


(Un)fortunate coincidences

by bansheehime



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Islands, Romance, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-06-22 08:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15578235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bansheehime/pseuds/bansheehime
Summary: Prince Zuko starts his search for the vanished relic, the Avatar, well-aware that he is on a fruitless journey. Yet, in a set of (un)fortunate coincidences, he ends up taking a small break in a place one can only call paradise. As fate would have it, there, he meets a girl. An annoying, uneducated blabbermouth who he can't wait to get rid of... Right? Zuko/OC





	1. Zuko: The storm is just the beginning…

**You asked for it – you got it!**

**Here is a small Zuko/OC story which I promised to write. Yes, I will continue working on my other fics, as well.**

* * *

**And now, a small piece of wisdom:**

" _ **Sometimes life is like this tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving, you will come to a better place."—Iroh**_

* * *

**Chapter 1: The storm is just the beginning…**

It was terrifying.

I remember the sky turning from clear blue, the lovely clear blue, to a stormy, angry violet, almost black. It was as if night had fallen early. As if we had angered the sea.

I had never believed in the Gods.

The seafarers talked of them often. Of the Goddess of the Seas, who controlled the waves. She was merciful as she was cruel, they would say. She had no favorite and she bent only to her own whims. I would listen to them, liking the strange stories of betrayal and love and lust between different Gods. But, I had never invested myself in the faith.

Back then, it looked just like the Goddess had finally had enough.

The waves rose quickly, from small, playful splashes to giant, black walls of terror. The boat, the sturdy ship, made out of an old warship, swung left and right, tossed about by the enormous, powerful sea like a child throws its toy. We had no waterbenders on board. Not that it would've mattered anyway. The sea was like a raging monster, throwing its tantrum regardless of our innocent journey.

I remember running out onto the deck through the hallway. It had been a rough trip, as everything on the inside was freely swinging left and right and I had had to evade numerous objects on my way. The main deck was no better. The rain was falling like a bunch of icy daggers, the cold drops like steel on my tan skin. My hair had quickly gotten wet, sticking to my face like it had been glued there. Not to mention my clothes, soaked, like second skin.

Then, the wave rose.

Right in front of the helm, a huge, black wall of water rose from nothing, like it was preparing to crush us. For a moment, I wished that it would embrace us and send us into the icy depths of the raging sea. Perhaps, that sacrifice would soothe the Goddess in her anger and end this terrible calamity. Yet, I'd banished those thoughts quickly. I had been taught from a young age that there was only one thing that I could say in the face of Death.

I have just begun.

I struggled towards the control room, the wind and the rain making my limbs freeze with numbness and my eyes squint to see in front of me. I was almost there when the wave broke. The water, turning from black to white, washed across the deck like a herd of terrified animals, its rushing the only thing in my ears. My trembling fingers grabbed the closest thing in numb terror, squeezing it as tightly as they could.

The first blow wasn't too bad.

The white crown of the wave hit me, slamming my body mercilessly against the metal ship, swirling around me and going on its way. The water had entered through my mouth and nose, making me gasp and cough terribly, blinking to get rid of the cloudiness in my vision. I could only taste the salt burning its way through my nose uncomfortably now. I managed to catch my breath for a second.

And then the water receded.

The black, almost deathly calm, liquid moved to the sides of the ship, washing away everything from the deck. Suddenly, I wasn't waist-deep inside anymore, but it was swirling around my knees. Another wave, smaller, hit, washing over me once more and as it slammed me into the metal panel once again, my frozen fingers caved under pressure.

With a small crack, signaling at least two broken digits, I lost my grip on the metal handle and as the black water receded once more, I remember only whispering the name of the angry Goddess, hoping, praying, that she would be merciful.

After all, I have only just begun.

* * *

Zuko was sick of the sea. Well, he had never been a true fan, really. Once, he had wished that his father would take him onto one of the warships with him. He had wanted to see all of those things that they spoke of in the legends and tall war tales. The ships, the cannons, the mysterious islands, the Earth Kingdom and even the Water Tribes. His mother had often told him that he didn't need something like that. After all, he had been simply a prince of the Fire Nation, he hadn't been the crowned heir. That had been a role that his cousin, Lu Ten, had carried heavy on his shoulders.

Though, he had been jealous of his sister, Azula. She had been allowed onto his father's warship. Not only that, but their father had taken her with him on one of his patrols. Their mother, Ursa, had been against the idea, but their father had been adamant. After all, what harm could a simple boat trip do?

Of course, his sister had never let him live it down. He had heard numerous tales of her epic journey to the nearby military base and back. Now that he thought about it properly, he didn't doubt that Azula had lied. Azula always lies. She was a master of deception. He would know, as he had been tricked into her cruel games numerous times. She loved pain. Especially if she was the one dealing it out. And even more so if he was on the receiving end. He could imagine her now, grinning, her golden eyes crinkling in the corners, as they always did when she felt superior.

Sometimes, when he looked in the mirror, he could see his sister in his own eyes. However, his Uncle always told him that he was  _nothing_  like Azula. If anything, it brought him a smidgeon of comfort.

"Prince Zuko!" One of the soldiers on his vessel called out. Zuko turned, his hair swishing in the wind. His piercing gaze gave a silent permission to the man to speak. "There is a storm ahead us, sir." Said the unnamed soldier. "It would be best to head below deck, the Captain says."

The Captain, Zuko almost snorted. Now that was a conceited man if he had ever seen one. The banished Prince had read the crew members' files before getting on his vessel, of course. The man had been trained as a professional naval officer and he had excelled in the Academy for regular firebending corps, as well. Though, the man had never managed to rise in rank, despite his skills.

Zuko had a suspicion that that was because the man was quite unconventional with his beliefs. After all, he had married a young woman from the Earth Kingdom, whom he had met during his time at the outpost in the colonies. His father undoubtedly wanted the liberal Captain as far away from the Fire Nation as possible. Zuko had been a change sent from heavens. Though, despite their mutual dislike for the Fire Lord, the young Prince couldn't find it in himself to get along with the man. He was simply too obnoxious. As if he had drunk all the wisdom of the world with nothing to show for it.

"If the Captain says so." Sneered the Prince, and gave the soldier a look which would've burned him if he could firebend with his eyes alone. Unfortunately, such a skill still wasn't mastered. Not even by his prodigal sister.

"I meant no disrespect, Prince Zuko, sir." Saluted the soldier, holding the door for the royal. Zuko couldn't help another snort, stomping into the metal hull of the warship. They never did, he thought.

* * *

"It's the Storm Belt, Prince Zuko." Explained his Uncle, sitting at the small table with his nephew. The warship was rocking wildly from side to side, sending the people inside left and right, making them hold their possessions and sometimes even lose grasp of their lunch. But, the former great General, now simply Uncle Iroh, sat on his pillow peacefully, not minding the way the light above him swung back and forth, casting ominous shadows all around. He was drinking tea, as usual.

"It doesn't matter." Zuko replied, his voice snapping just a bit less than usual. He loved his Uncle dearly, despite the fact that he would never admit it. After all, the man had always treated him like his own son. "This warship was built for stormy seas."

His Uncle looked like he wanted to sigh or berate him, but he did neither. It was much later that Zuko would actually start to realize and properly value his Uncle's wisdom. Then, he still thought of it as a foolish chatter of an old man.

"It is wise to know the seas, Prince Zuko." The former General spoke. "Most of the Fire Nation's military power lies in its fleet. We have numerous outposts and colonies and it takes an impeccable schedule to maintain them all." The old man kept explaining, making Zuko roll his eyes.

"I know, Uncle." He groaned. "I went to the Fire Nation's Academy for boys, remember? They taught us all about that there." How could he forget. School. Another thing where Azula had excelled. Unlike her, he hadn't been too good at making friends. There were two types of people at his school: those who feared him and those who admired him. And, none of them were honest in their intentions. He had learned that the hard way.

He could still recall his first friend, a nobleman's son named Hesen. The boy had been a little bit too friendly from the start, and that should've been Zuko's first sign that something was off. But, he had been too young back then. Too naïve. Hesen had quickly warmed his way into a visit to Zuko's house. And then a friendship with Zuko's sister. And then smiled and laughed his way through a family dinner.

Zuko couldn't remember the time his father had been that angry.

Well, actually he could. Just a couple of weeks ago, when he had banished his own son onto a fruitless journey. But, that wasn't the point. Hesen had been his own father's loyal subject, attempting to worm his way into the Fire Lord's family through the weakest link and gain control from the inside to further his father's propaganda. And that link had been Zuko. The weakest. Well, he had never truly been anything  _but_  that. There was always Azula to outshine him.

"-and it is said that the Goddess rules those seas, as beautiful and terrible as the depths of it themselves." His Uncle's voice entered Zuko's ears once more, this time not in the form of 'blah blah blah' as it often did. The young Prince shut his eyes briefly, willing the image of his former 'friend' away. He tuned into his Uncle's story. "The sailors have always been superstitious, but in these waters, no amount of persuasion can get the natives to let go of their pagan beliefs." The former General caught his tea mug as it slid down the table. The ship was rocking even more violently than before. "We've tried everything, believe me."

"Let them have their religion." The Prince sighed. His scar itched again. Well, his developing scar. The burn over his eye had been healing nicely, as the ship healer said. There had been only a couple of infected places, due to Zuko's own relentless search for the vanished relic, the Avatar. Though, those were on their way to recovery, as well. The healer had told him that he was quite lucky to have kept his eye, as he had seen worse wounds from firebending battles. Lucky. Zuko was anything but lucky. "It doesn't matter." He growled, attempting to scratch the itchiness away over the bandages.

"Does your wound itch again, Prince Zuko?" Of course, his Uncle didn't miss the stolen movement. "Should I call for the healer?"

"No." The Prince's voice took an angry growl, already annoyed with his relative's overprotectiveness. "It's fine." He really hoped that his Uncle would leave it at that. But, the old man didn't.

"If your blisters burst again, you could lose control over your eyelid and-"

"I said it's fine!" Zuko burst out, the flames of the candles in the room surging upward as an answer to his rage. His Uncle looked at the fire calmly, smoothing it down with his own firebending.

"As you wish." And then the old man grabbed his mug, leaving the Prince's room. Zuko sat at the table, staring at the couple of drops which had escaped his Uncle's mug. The swinging light made them look alive in the storm. He sighed, his hand coming to his unhurt eye, making it close and enveloping him in darkness. For a hundredth time, he wished that he was someone else. Not a Prince. Not a firebender. Not even from the Fire Nation.

The warship swung once more in the raging sea and Zuko groaned, opening his good eye. He couldn't change his fate. He was from the Fire Nation and he was a firebender. And most importantly, he was the  _Crown Prince_  of the Fire Nation. He would never forget who he was.

The teen stood, staggering a bit as the ship took another dip in the ocean. With a silent curse under his breath, the Prince left his room. He stumbled along the corridor, heading towards the operations room. His path took him across the main deck, which was being washed by violent waves, one after the other. Zuko had been taught what to do in case of a storm, though. He grabbed onto the railing tightly, his fingers going cold from the wind and water. He took a deep breath, concentrating his chi and managed to warm up a little. He wished that his Uncle had taught him more.

The door of the operations room, all the way up at the top of the navigation tower was like heaven to his squinting eye. The Prince pushed the door open and entered the warm inside of the ship, forcing his shoulders to stop shaking. He couldn't show weakness to the soldiers.

"Prince Zuko, how may I be of service?" The navigator of their ship, a tall and lanky man named Sori asked with a polite bow. Now, this man knew his manners, unlike their Captain. Sori always treated the banished Prince with proper respect, like one would a royal in the Fire Nation. The Captain, he thought that Zuko was a spoilt brat and didn't miss a moment to show his convictions clearly.

"Sori." Zuko greeted with a nod. It was as much of a respectful greeting as he could give the navigator. "How is the storm?" The Prince neared the controls, looking out. Now that he was all the way on the top of the command tower, he could see the storm properly. It looked positively terrifying, not that he would actually admit it.

The warship would climb up and then further up the large, dark wave, before the monstrosity would fold on itself and wash over the deck, sweeping it clean. The white crown of the water broke on the ship, the foam flying wildly in the wind, whipping about like a violent armadillosnake. As the water receded, the next wave rose, looking like it would sink the warship. Zuko found himself pushing his fear down like he had done many times before.

"It isn't letting up, sir." Said the navigator, looking out to the sea as well. "I was hoping that we would reach the Tun Chain before the storm hit us, or at least before we reached the eye of it. But, it seems that the Gods are against us."

"Tch." Zuko rolled his eyes. The Gods, again.

"The Archipelago isn't too big, and most of the islands are uninhabited or unexplored, but it's always better to be docked during a storm like this." Sori explained, looking at the map in front of him. The warship shook and something somewhere screeched like it was being twisted painfully.

"When will we reach the islands?" Zuko demanded, ignoring the way the navigator flinched at the obviously bad sound. Ships shouldn't screech, Zuko knew that well. But, he also knew that they had a very capable crew with a couple of good engineers on board.

Sori gave him a solemn look. "We should've reached the Chain this morning." Another scream tore from the ship, followed by a small boom of a telltale explosion. Zuko frowned.

"Did we hit something?" He peered out the window, trying to see something other than humongous waves.

"These islands aren't well charted, sir." Sori added, this time measuring the distance on his map. "I suggested a different route but you insisted-"

"So it is my fault!?" Zuko growled, his tone rising.

"I would never suggest such an atrocious thing, Prince Zuko!" Sori dropped everything, falling to the floor in a formal bow. For a second, Zuko stared at him from above, watching the way the man's hands trembled. He wondered what had Sori done to get shipped off on the banished prince's ship.

Zuko caught the rolling pen which Sori had dropped, motioning with his free fingers for the man to stand up. "Just find where we are." And the navigator rose quickly, avoiding Zuko's piercing eyes. Well, that couldn't be helped. The young Prince had thought that his crew had finally relaxed a bit around him, at least enough to look him in the eyes when they spoke to him, but, he had just set Sori back. And, undoubtedly, that would spread through the rest of them like wildfire. The ones that respected him would become distant and fearful once more and the ones that thought nothing of him would become even ruder.

"We should be seeing Dir Sul in a matter of minutes on the horizon." Sori quipped, his voice a little thin. "It is the first of the islands, and it's uninhabited. The log book says that there is a river with drinkable water and even herbivore animals which can be caught rather easily." The man pointed with his slim finger to one of the dots on the map. "Hopefully the storm will calm enough for us to dock into the river."

"Indeed." Zuko stared at the little dots on the map for a moment, counting them. He'd gotten to fifteen when the warship took a plunge into the oncoming wave, rocking again. The map vanished before his eyes as he lost his footing and slammed into the navigator's chair on his left.

"Prince Zuko!" Exclaimed Sori, his surprisingly strong and quite bony hands grabbing the teen around his forearms and pulling him up. "Are you alright?" Asked the sailor, his eyes searching for any wounds.

"I'm fine." The Prince brushed him off, moving a few steps back. He headed back down, towards the hatch which would take him to the hull of the ship. He felt like practicing some firebending. After all, he couldn't do anything about the dreadful storm or their uncertain location. The last thing he saw as he left the operations room was Sori bowing formally once again to him. He almost sighed, a little miffed about the overly formal greeting. He wasn't the Fire Lord. He was just himself, Zuko, the banished Prince.

The journey across the deck was as icy as the first time around, the violent waves making him feel like he'd taken a dip in the sea. His forearms still ached where Sori had grabbed him. Sure, he'd had worse in his hand-to-hand training, but he knew that the spots would be sore for a while. The navigator was deceptively strong. Of course, Zuko could take him in a fight. After all, Sori was a non-bender. Zuko could take him alright.

It was as he was crossing the small amount of deck that the wave surprised him. It was a large one, dark, with so much more force than the rest of them, and it slammed twice into him, making him let go of the railing for a brief, naïve second. And then, Zuko found himself flying over the edge of the warship, the pull of the sea too strong for him to resist.

* * *

Zuko came to like he had many other times. After all, he had been through a number of tough training sessions, due to the will of his father. However, he had never been this wet. He pushed himself up, shaking his head. The developing scar on the left side of his face itched like crazy. He gingerly touched it only to see that his bandage was gone. Great, he thought, he was bound to pick up an infection or two in this dump.

The banished Prince looked around. He was lying, face first, on a fine, sandy beach of an island. The waves were calmly washing over him, pushing his body even further towards the shore. Clearly, he had found the Tun Chain.

A searaven sounded somewhere above him, and Zuko managed to push himself on his back. His arms ached from his trip in the storm. His chest felt heavy. His right leg had a telltale shooting pain going up from the knee, telling him that he had probably broken it. However, the skies were peaceful above him, blue and clear, with only a couple, pure white clouds floating lazily about. Just how long ago had the storm been there?

Zuko laid there for a while, boneless, before managing to pick himself up and push himself into the shade of the palm trees of the island. His lips were already cracking and he was thirsty as a walrus yak. Zuko knew the survival basics. His Uncle had drilled them into him as soon as they had set out onto the sea. And, despite the fact that he often pretended not to listen, he  _had_  mopped up all the information like a greedy sponge. There were a couple of rules.

"Rule number one: Fresh water." Murmured the banished Prince to himself, gathering his energy both mentally and physically. After a couple of moments in the shade, he felt a bit cooler and stood. He began his search with a heavy limp. Water dripped from his clothes, but he didn't stop. Instead, the Prince simply undid the front of his shirt, letting it flow freely so that it would dry faster. After a few meters, he got annoyed by the squishing sounds of the water in his shoes and stopped to take them off.

The ground was sandy, yet there were patches of grass here and there, and the grains stuck to his wet feet in an uncomfortable way. He was going deeper and deeper towards the center of the island and the Prince decided to take a turn to his right, towards the East by the sun's position, so that he wouldn't move too far away from the beach. He was sure that by then his Uncle had already realized that he was gone and had begun searching for him, but it would take the ship a while. He wanted to stay close to the shore just in case he spotted the ship.

After a hundred or so meters, Zuko took a break. His leg was hurting and he had begun to limp quite badly, glad that there was no one beside him on the island, that he knew of, to see his undignified state. He spotted a branch on the ground and took a moment to fashion himself a walking stick of sorts with a little aid of his firebending. He created fire daggers, something which he had been practicing in the recent weeks with his Uncle, and burned the unnecessary side branches completely, rolling the stick in the dirt to keep it from being set on fire. Soon, he was once more on his way, this time walking with a little bit more ease.

It took him around twenty minutes to finally hear a sound of rushing water and the Prince couldn't help but grin, strength returning to his limbs a bit. He hurried towards the source of the sound, only to find a small stream of water. Surprisingly, it wasn't blue, but a pale, yellow color. However, Zuko didn't care.

Water was water. He scooped up as much as he could, gulping it down greedily. His throat burned in a familiar way like he hadn't drunk anything in ages. It was only after a couple of scoops that Zuko slowed down, choosing to sit next to the stream instead, his sore feet in it. He splashed some water onto his forehead and then slicked it over his bald head. The yellow liquid dripped down his face, over his eyebrows, and onto his open shirt.

Then, his vision swam.

* * *

**And that's all I've got. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts :D**

* * *

**A little bit of general info:**

**Length of story: Will have multiple parts**

**Length of chapters: Each will be 4k words or above**

**Frequency of updates: Irregular (quality over quantity)**

**Pairing: Zuko/OC**

**Rating: T (for our dear Prince's language)**

* * *

**Until next time!**


	2. Shei: An islander girl named Shei

**Hello hello and welcome to some more of (un)fortunate** **coincidences** **! Enjoy the next part of young Zuko's adventure!**

* * *

**Special thanks to everyone who has read the story. I hope that it lives up to your expectations!  
I absolutely adore frelia567 for bookmarking it, too!**

* * *

**A small piece of wisdom:  
** _"As long as I'm confident with who I am, it doesn't matter what other people think"—Smellerbee_

* * *

**Chapter 2: An islander girl named Shei**

The knife slipped under her hands and the blade sliced right across her calf. Again. Shei let out a tired sigh, allowing the knife to clatter onto the rock beside her.

"Stupid Kitanna." The girl told herself, looking down at her bleeding leg with annoyance. "They're not that dark." Who in the hell was she kidding. They were dark. And Kitanna was damn right. She needed to start shaving. Heck, even old Mame had told her that she needed a shave in a roundabout way.

Shei pushed her hair back, going forwards and down the steep rocks into the calm sea around the island. She slipped into the water without disturbing it much, wriggling her legs about for a moment before pushing herself up, mindful of all the seashells stuck to the rocks. Oh, she had cut herself on those dark blade-like ovals more than once. She wasn't looking forward to a repeat of it.

When she reached the top, the girl ran her hands down her legs. Her left was completely smooth, clear of hair from her ankle all the way to the top of her thigh. Her dark skin, a clear sign of her Water Nation origins was flawless. On the other hand, her right leg felt like a leg of an hippolion. Well, maybe she was being too harsh on herself. She didn't have  _that_  much hair.

Shei groaned, picking up the knife and walking away from the cliff. Who cares what Kitanna thought. She was just a stupid sheepcow anyways. "C'mon Jami." Called out the young girl to her pet and companion. The creature stood, extending its wings briefly to shake the sleep out of them and then proceeding to stretch its feline body as well. "Shall we go to Dir Dranc and get some fish?"

Jami let out a lazy yawn and then a growl, as if he were disapproving of the girl's decision. Shei, however, grinned. "I agree." She nodded, grabbing onto the thin, leather saddle on the beast and hopping up. "I'm a mad genius." She grabbed onto the handles on the top of the seat, lowering herself as far as she could down. "Hoppity hop!" The feline moved, walking and then running towards the edge before jumping. Its large wings extended flapping once, twice and then lazily extending to their full length, allowing them to glide along the air currents. "Don't worry, Jami." Shei grinned, relaxing in the leather seat. "I'll give you the biggest fish that I catch."

The sea was calm and the path to the Dir Dranc took only three hours without any stopping. Shei landed Jami on the small patch of white sand in front of the island, just to rest. She took out her water canteen and sipped some, before putting it on between her arm and body, pouring it skillfully into her hands, so that Jami could drink. He lapped it up greedily, licking her hands clean when he was done. After a short rest, they flew the rest of the way to Dir Dranc, the perfect island for fishing.

Shei hopped off Jami's back as soon as they hit the shore. She immediately started readying the net from one of the saddle bags and tossed it in the water, right where the small stream entered the ocean, dying it a dull, green color. Now, that was where the fish were. Big, quick, red and delicious fish.

"Jami, give me a hand." She called out to her companion, the feline giving a lazy growl in return. "I know, then give me a paw, if you would. Or a claw." Laughed Shei and tightened the net around one of the trees downstream. The bark and branches already had deep indentations where the nets were usually stretched.

Jami was efficient. He grabbed the other end of the net, pulling it towards him. Then, the creature stopped, listening. His ears weren't flicking in every direction as usual, but they were completely erect, focusing only on one thing. Shei waded back across the stream, as quietly as possible, and placed a tentative hand on Jami's neck. One ear flicked towards her, before returning to its previous position.

"Jami?" The girl asked. "What do you hear, boy?" The feline let out a small growl which turned Shei's insides to ice. "Let's get out of here." And the girl waded back to undo her net as quickly as possible, not caring about quiet anymore.  _They_  knew that she was here. There was no hiding from  _them_.  _They knew_.

As Shei was hurriedly wrapping up her fishing net and stuffing it into its bag, and angry yell tore across the island, followed by a scream of the same voice. The girl froze, her fingers trembling. She knew what that meant. They had someone. They had a person. She wasn't of any interest to them. She could leave peacefully. But, they  _had_ some _one._

"Let's go Jami." Shei pushed herself up, swinging her leg over Jami's body in a practiced motion. "Hoppity hop!" She yelled, the feline taking off into the air effortlessly. She patted Jami's neck on the side, telling him to turn and the large cat obliged, circling to the left. Shei spotted the fire rather easily. It's not like  _they_  ever tried to conceal their presence on the island. "Jami, take care of it."

And Shei took a plunge.

She hit one of the trees, the leaves and branches scratching her skin as she went down. Finally, the girl managed to grab onto one of the thicker branches, the bark biting into her hands hard as she stopped her fall. Shei exhaled, waiting for a moment to see if anyone had noticed her fall. She took a deep breath. No one was coming. A bird called out from somewhere to her left. Shei felt soundlessly the rest of the way to the ground, her bare feet landing on the sandy soil.

There was silence all around her. Well, as much silence as one could expect on a tropical island. There were birds all around, singing, squawking and quacking. The soft wind was blowing through the trees, rustling the leaves and playing the trunks like a giant pipe organ. Shei moved through the forest soundlessly. She easily found the source of the noise.

A large fire had been built in a small clearing, a wooden spit was ready right next to it. There were people around the flame, dancing, yelling, rejoicing. Their skin was as white as salt and their eyes as blue as the deep ocean. Shei crouched, making sure that she was downwind.  _They_  had a sharp sense of smell and she didn't want to be noticed.

Not if she wanted to save that poor fellow.

There was a boy, a teenager, really, a little ways off from the fire, tied up securely with thick rope. He was screaming and yelling angrily, which could barely be heard over  _their_  song anymore. They were ready. Their hunt was over. The great Goddess had gifted them with her prize. Now it was a different time. It wasn't a time for battling. It wasn't a time for hunting. It was a time for eating.

The screaming boy was going to be  _their_  lunch.

A loud roar tore through the island, followed by a flock of birds flying off in fright.  _Their_  song came to an abrupt stop and a couple of them squawked and rumbled at each other in an unknown language. Shei waited. Another roar sounded, this time followed by a baby's wail. The group around the fire split up quickly, a bunch of them grabbing their previously discarded weapons, and a couple staying behind. Jami had done his job well.

Shei cursed soundlessly.

Five of them hadn't left. The girl quickly searched the ground around her, finding the biggest coconut she could. She threw it as far as she could to her right, and then scampered to the left.  _They_ exchanged a few more words before two of them left to check out the new noise, greedy grins on their face. They thought that the boy wasn't alone. That the Goddess had given them something else.

But, Shei was prepared.

She looked through the tiny pockets of her tight pants, finding a couple of bundles of herbs. She smelled them, one by one, stopping when she found the proper scent. She knew that she wouldn't have much time. Jami could only distract  _them_  for so long, and those that had gone on their coconut hunt would be back soon. With precision that would make Kitanna green with jealousy, Shei threw the bundle of herbs into the large fire. It cracked once. Twice. And then it colored green and blue, smoke swirling above it in strange patterns.

 _They_  threw themselves at the ground.

From their pale lips came chanting in their crude, strange language. They were praying, thanking their Gods for their gracious gift. Shei was as quick as a rabaroo. She flew towards the poor boy, sliding the knife from her belt and beginning to cut the ropes. He doubled his struggle and she slammed her hand onto his open mouth. The boy bit her as hard he could, his teeth digging into her already sore palms from her little trip down the tree, drawing blood.

"Shut up and let me help you if you don't want to be their lunch." The girl growled into his ear and the boy reluctantly let go of her hand. Shei grit her teeth at the sight of her hand, bleeding and messed up, but didn't take the time to dwell on it any further. Instead, the girl focused on her task once more. She hit something in the thick rope, and dug it out with her partially numb, bloody fingers.

It was a tooth.

Shei grit her teeth once more, finally snapping the ropes. She knew that if she got caught, it would be her teeth in the next ropes which  _they_  made. As soon as she freed the boy, she realized the next problem. Of course, this wasn't her day at all. His leg was bent in a weird way. Obviously, they hadn't wanted him to have a way to run away.

"Grab onto me." Shei told him, pulling one of his arms around her neck. The boy didn't resist this time, his eyes darting fearfully towards  _them_  as they still chanted with their foreheads on the ground. The flame was still green, but it wouldn't stay that way forever.

"It's almost gone." He growled at her, confirming her fear. Shei nodded, putting more strength into pulling him up. The boy got his good leg under him and they clumsily stumbled away from the clearing. Shei managed to get them out of sight, already panting and sweating. Either she wasn't getting enough exercise, or this boy was heavier than he looked.

"Just a little further." She told them both, gritting her teeth. Her hand was bleeding from his bite earlier, she could feel the wetness. It was making her hold on his bare arm slippery and she had to stop for a second to re-adjust her grip. "Don't stop." She murmured again, stepping once more. Her toe hit a rock, bending in a weird way, but Shei didn't stop. "We've only just begun." She spoke again.

"If you've got the strength to talk, walk faster." The boy growled at her and for a moment, Shei considered dropping him there and leaving him behind. Then, she remembered why exactly she was in this situation. Shei and her stupid compassion. She cursed herself, the boy, Dir Dranc for its good fish, Kitanna and even old Mame for their silly ideas about how a girl should shave her legs.

"Why don't  _you_  shut up?" Shei growled just as her legs gave out. The boy muffled his scream by biting his lower lip as he went down beside her.

"What are you doing?" He called out in a strained voice. "They're gonna find us!"

"I thought- I- told you- to shut up." Shei managed to push through her pants, one hand still gripping the boy's arm and the other on the ground, holding her up. "I just- need a breather." Yelling and screaming sounded out from the campsite behind them, successfully shutting up the boy's next remark, undoubtedly as insulting as the rest of them.

A mad scream tore just behind them, a white silhouette running towards them while waving a machete of sorts. "Go! Go!  _Go_!" The boy yelled now, not bothering keeping silent anymore, pushing them up with his good leg. Shei groaned and jumped up, running now, and making the boy hop awkwardly to keep up with her. One of  _them_  was catching up to them though, still letting out that strange yell.

"Flying hog monkeys!" Shei cursed, stopping and turning around. She drew her dagger once more, tossing it as hard as she could. The blade imbedded itself into the tree, right through the clothing of their attacker. "Go!" They hobbled along once again. "We need to reach the beach." Shei told the boy, pulling him towards the East now.

"Do you have a boat?" He asked, free hand reaching up to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"Goddess no." Shei replied just as the cleared the last row of the trees, breaking out onto the sandy beach. Shei could hear numerous voices letting out angry war cries behind them, chasing them. The boy panicked when he didn't see an obvious escape route and turned to her enraged, getting into her face.

"And  _how_  exactly are we getting out of here in your brilliant plan?" He growled. "Flying?"

"How'd you know?"

"What?!" He screamed in panic. "Are you going to sprout wings or something?"

"Not me." Shei clarified to the terrified boy. "Jami." Before he could retort, a loud roar tore through the air, the feline creature breaking through the trees, biting left and right at the incoming attackers before hurrying to the panting pair.  _They_  hesitated, obviously familiar with the nature of Jami's species and its extremely carnivorous ways.

"Get behind me!" The boy pushed her back, hopping forward on his good leg and extending his clenched fist, like was going to punch Jami in the face or something. And while Shei admired his bravery and care for her, she needed to get him on the cat's back as soon as possible.

"Shut up and get on his back!" The girl headed for the feline, pulling the now resisting boy with her. Jami, a little annoyed by the newcomer's reaction, turned his side to them and let out a roar, making  _them_  move a couple of steps back.

 _They_  stopped.

Everything stilled except the boy's protests about nearing the large, flying feline. Shei's eyes didn't leave  _their_  blue eyes, ethereal looking, standing out against their pure white skin, as she pushed the limping boy at Jami. She growled under her breath like she was the feline and not him, and the rescued teen obliged, struggling for a moment to clamber up onto Jami's back with only the power of his arms and one good leg. For a second, Shei looked away from  _them_  to see if he had settled into the leather saddle, and it was like the spell had been broken.

 _They_  ran like madmen towards the escaping trio, shouting in  _their_  language.

"Hoppity hop!" Yelled Shei and Jami took off with two powerful swings of his wings, taking the boy and himself to the safety of the skies. The girl turned, running towards the sea in panic. Her feet sank into the sand, making her escape slower than the advance of her pursuers. She really needed to take Rem up on his 'training on the beach' offer next time. She was out of breath by the time she splashed into the clear water, evading urchineels like her life depended on it.

It was just as one of  _them_  neared her, swinging his machete, that Shei dove into the water. That didn't deter them at all. The closest one threw himself after her, catching her leg. Shei kicked and screamed, salt water filling her mouth, and she managed to shake off the grip on her ankle. Then, a roar tore through the air once more, Jami diving downwards.

Shei extended her hands and waited for the right moment, grabbing onto the underside of the feline's saddle when the opportunity arose. Her body was lifted from the water and she became weightless for a second as Jami adjusted to the weight of two people on him. Then, the feline headed upwards with an annoyed groan, obviously not too happy about the increase in the number of passengers.

* * *

They stopped after an hour or so of flying. By then, Shei could barely feel her arms and her right hand was quite numb and still slick from her own blood. As soon as she was close enough to the ground, the young girl let go, rolling once and then stopping on her back, feeling as tired as she'd ever been. Jami landed a meter or so away, folding his wings gingerly and tossing his head back, clearly not too happy about the strange rider.

"Do you have any water?" The boy asked, struggling to get off of the large feline. He landed on his good foot and proceeded to hop about clumsily.

"Oh, you have got to be the worst damsel in distress ever. So ungrateful." Shei groaned, looking upwards at the hobbling boy.

"I was completely fine. I didn't need your help." Came the answer in a telltale growl.

"It's in the canteen, the wooden one on the back of the saddle." She chose to ignore the bite. He found it fairly easily and drank from it. "Pass." Shei demanded and the teen tossed the wooden canteen to her. The girl tipped it, a single drop landing into her mouth. "Awwwe. You drank all of it." She rolled onto her stomach, pushing herself up.

"I was thirsty."

"Ungrateful." Shei said and walked over to Jami. "Let me see that before we leave." She motioned towards his hurt leg, which was still a little bent in a strange direction.

"I'm not getting back on that smelly beast." Jami growled in warning, showing his white teeth. The boy stumbled back, extending his first towards the feline once more, like he was going to punch.

"Don't be mean." Shei frowned, untying the saddle from Jami's back and beginning to undo the different knots. "Jami doesn't like taking baths. Urgh." Commented the girl, fumbling with some of the knots and then pulling the straps as hard as she could and they came apart. "There we go." She mumbled to herself.

"Who in the world keeps an eaglelion as their pet anyways?" The boy commented, dropping to the ground. He tenderly touched his hurt leg before letting it go with a hiss.

" _Golden_  eaglelion." Corrected Shei. "And Jami ain't my pet. He's my friend." The girl grinned, dropping to her knees beside the boy and crawling over. "Let me see that." She gingerly touched his hurt leg, feeling around for the positions of the bones. "Where does it hurt?"

"Ah!" The boy grunted out, moving his leg away from her touch in an awkward movement from the hip. "It hurts everywhere, obviously." When he saw the look that Shei was giving him, however, he relaxed his leg once again. "It hurts the most on the side." He mumbled.

"Alright. I'm no healer, but this looks like a simple fracture. Clean, from the looks of it." The girl reached for the leather straps that she'd gotten from her saddle and fastened them above his knee snugly. "How long did  _they_  make you walk on it?" Her voice softened, her fingers gently going over the swollen joint.

"Only one day. They made me run." The boy answered, gritting his teeth. "They wanted to hunt."

"You're lucky to be alive." Shei told him and stood, heading for the trees. There, she picked the sturdiest branches that she could see and broke them off by leaning on them with her whole weight. She walked back to the boy, who seemed between pissed and relieved, which was a strange combination. As she worked on making a makeshift splint for his leg, Shei took a better look at him. His shirt was open, thorn undoubtedly from all the running which he'd done on Dir Dranc. However, the material was expensive, silk or fancy linen, hand stitched, as far as she could see. His feet were bare, with scabs and cuts from the rough terrain and his pants had been ripped short, just above his knee. Obviously,  _they_  had been preparing him for the meal. "How does this feel?" Shei finally asked, tying off the last strap.

"Snug." He replied in an indifferent tone, and she noticed that his voice was breaking now that he wasn't angry. He didn't look that much older than she was, in fact. And that brought her to the more important questions, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. Why in the world was he on Dir Dranc alone?

"As long as your toes don't go blue, it should be snug." Shei told him and then stood. "Let's go, we need to get to Tir Mor." It took her only a second to re-saddle Jami with the absence of some straps.

"Tir Mor?" The boy asked. "Is that in the Tun Chain?" He accepted Shei's hand and she pulled him up and helped him towards Jami, who gave a growl of annoyance from his lying position on the warm sand.

"Tun? That's the mainlanders' way of saying it." She asked, her eyebrow rising. "We call it Bras Chain on the island. Means large, rich." Shei explained and then wove her hands together, like a step of sorts. "Here, get back on Jami." The boy grabbed the saddle with one arm, and raised his good leg to use her makeshift step. The girl boosted him up with a grunt as the pressure made her remember that she'd hurt her hand. She needed to wrap it as soon as she got home.

"Where are we going?" The boy asked her, his tone taking a defensive tone once more. Shei stopped fastening his hurt leg to the saddle and looked at him. His eyes were like molten gold, she realized. She'd never seen eyes like that before.

"A village on Tir Mor, the place where I'm from." Shei explained, offering a friendly grin. "You'll be safe there." She patted Jami's neck and walked the short way to the water to wash her hands. The girl paid careful attention to the fresh bite-marks on her palm. The crusted blood came off, showing her that it wasn't as bad as she thought it was. Jami padded up to her, sniffing at the blood. His pink tongue darted out, licking the palm.

"Sorry about that." The boy told her, sounding like he didn't apologize often. Shei grinned up at him, squinting because of the sun. "I didn't mean to bite you that hard."

"It's fine." The girl laughed it off, hiding her hand behind her back. "I've had worse while exploring the reef. And you should've seen my knees when I was training Jami to have a rider!" Shei grabbed the saddle around the boy, surprising him when she swung up behind him and settled in, as comfortably as she could.

"W-what are you doing?!" He demanded to know, blushing at the way she pressed against his back because of the small seat of the saddle. "Move back! Don't touch me!" He complained, pushing her with his back, which meant that the little space that had existed between them, now completely vanished.

"Shut up and settle down!" Shei yelled over him, grabbing him in a tight hug to stop him from moving. He was quite strong, but couldn't break free because of his exhausted state. Being stranded on an island with  _them_  did that to you. "The saddle isn't built for two. Stop wriggling, you'll hurt your leg." The boy's efforts to push her off of Jami lessened. "Good, shall we go then? The sun's gonna set soon." Shei grinned. After getting a nod, she added her final question, an afterthought, really. "Oh, right. I'm Shei. What's your name?"

"Lee." He answered after a second.

"It's nice to meetcha, Lee." Shei tapped on Jami's side comfortingly. "Hoppity hop, Jami!" And the eaglelion gave a short run before taking off into the skies with a few flaps of his powerful wings.

"Why is only one of your legs hairy?"

* * *

**That's all folks!**


	3. The healer of Tun Chain

**Hello and welcome!**

* * *

**I hope that everyone is enjoying the story and looking forward to the new chapter. My personal thanks to Boppolop**   **for the wonderful comment! And all the dears who left kudos :D**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**A small piece of wisdom:**

_"Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source."—Iroh_

**Chapter 3: The healer of Tun Chain**

Zuko snapped his eyes open, blinking rapidly to chase sleep away. The air swooshed around his head, comfortingly, almost, like the worst had passed. And truly, it had. His leg ached in a numb way, reminding him that he most definitely wasn't dreaming. No, this was completely real.

He had fallen off his warship and become lost at sea merely a day or so ago, he really couldn't tell the time. Then, after he had been so lucky to land on an island, he had drunk water from a spring and fainted. The next wakeup had been the worst of his life. Not even the one after the Agni Kai against his father had been this bad. No, waking up to a mass of people, shouting in a strange language and poking you was hell. To make it even worse, their skin was as white as snow. And their eyes… He would never forget those eyes. A piercing ice blue that seemed to stare right through you.

They had made him stand, not giving him any water or food and threw a spear at him. The message had been clear enough: Run. Zuko had never run like that before. Sure, he had chased his sister and her friends about, and played tag a couple of times as well, but this had been different. He was running for his life. Stumbling, hitting the ground and then rising again, on willpower alone.

"Lee?" Shei's soft voice came from behind him. He moved his head a bit to show that he was awake. "How are you doing? Does your leg hurt? We're almost there, I promise." She seemed genuinely concerned.

"It's fine." Zuko replied, nostalgia hitting him. Just a day ago, he had bitten those same words out to his Uncle in much the same manner.

"Our healer is great." Said Shei from her spot behind him, and he could tell that she was smiling. "She once patched my leg when a bone was sticking out!" She exclaimed and then proceeded to tell him the whole tale, which Zuko tuned out.

She was a talkative little thing, which got on his nerves. But, if that was the price of her saving him, he would pay it any day. He was well-practiced in tuning out his Uncle, after all. By the look of her, Shei was around his age and from the Water Nation. Her skin was a telltale tan color, maybe a bit darker than other Water Tribe people that he'd seen. Her eyes were as blue as the ocean, the normal color for her heritage.

It was her hair that was quite strange.

With her looks, he would expect her to be a brunette or at least have a dark head. But, that wasn't the case. Shei's hair was long, almost reaching all the way to the belt of her pants and it was the color of honey. It shined when the harsh, tropical sun hit it, and looked almost like it was flowing. Zuko didn't doubt that it would've been even lighter had it not been braided. The only thing he could think of when he looked at her in his exhausted state was just  _how long_  did it take for her to braid her hair. There were at least a hundred tiny braids there, after all!

Then, the eaglelion dropped in height. They were going down, Zuko realized and attempted to tune in to Shei's rant once more. She didn't  _stop_  talking. That's why he didn't like girls. They were loud, screaming and squealing all the time, weak, with the exception of his sister, and generally annoying. He was  _never_  getting married! Who would want a woman to be by their side all the time, after all?

"I'll take you to healer Naneh fist. That leg needs to be looked at as soon as possible." Shei's voice was finally processed properly in his brain. "I'm not sure what she can do about the burn on your face, though. It looks quite deep." His face. He'd forgotten about that. The developing scar was barely itching anymore, due to the constant pain in his leg.

The feline beast landed gracefully, Zuko barely feeling the change from flying to walking. He looked around. They were definitely on a different island. The trees had changed from palm trees to deciduous ones, coupled with vines of sorts which Zuko had only seen in swamps before. He could smell the wet ground, an earthy scent that clung to his lungs and made it a little difficult to breathe. They were on a completely different island. It could've even been located in a different climate belt, for all he knew.

Shei carefully unwrapped his injured leg from its secured to the saddle position and helped him off her beast. Then, she once more pulled his arm around her shoulder, taking most of his weight like a living crutch. The splint that she'd made for him earlier was clumsy, but it held his leg still, taking away quite a bit of pain.

"This way." And the girl led him on a narrow road towards the hut which he'd missed in his earlier assessment of the place. Well, it was easy to miss, after all, he told himself. Of course, it had nothing to do with his exhausted state, it was just unnoticeable with all the vines wrapped around it like a cocoon of sorts. "Healer Naneh!" Shei called out pushing the curtain of seashells at the entrance aside and entering, Zuko in tow. "It's Shei, are you here?"

The inside wasn't as packed as Zuko expected it to be. He had never been in a hut before, but he expected it to have everything that his royal chamber had, a bed, a nightstand, a wardrobe, drawers, bookshelves and many other things. But, this room was much simpler. There was a table in the corner, different bowls and plants, a set of knives and a large, ceramic mortar and pestle leaving little of its surface to be seen. There were no chairs around it, much to the prince's surprise. There were various shelves, made out of thick vines which were going in and out of the walls around the hut, stacked with different things. In the middle of the room was a small fire pit, a large, black cauldron hanging from the ceiling right above it. Something was cooking inside of it.

"Ouch!" Zuko's head hit something and he couldn't stop the yell leaving his mouth when it touched his tender scar. He looked up to see different plants and bones hanging from the vines and planks that formed the ceiling.

"Be careful." Shei warned him. "All of those are precious healing ingredients." She unnecessarily explained and led him to the only seat which he'd spotted in the room: the old pillow next to the fire. "Careful with the leg." She warned him, slowly lowering him down.

"I know." Growled Zuko, sweat forming on his forehead and running down the side of his face. Who in their right mind lit a fire on a tropical island during the day anyways? "Is there any water here?" He asked, looking around. As if on cue, his stomach rumbled uncomfortably. He placed his hand on it, squeezing. Was he sick?

"Why don't you give him a bowl of soup as well, girl." A creaky old voice sounded from behind Zuko. He swirled around, only to feel his heart speed up. There was a skeleton there! And it was talking to him! His hands moved on their own, trying to get him away from this new devilry.

"Calm down, Lee!" Shei's arms were behind him in a second, stopping his clumsy escape. "It's just healer Naneh." True to the girl's words, a wrinkled hand came up and removed the skull, revealing the face underneath. It was an old woman, her mouth pulled in a lopsided smile, showing her missing teeth. More importantly, Zuko could guess her nationality easily. She was from the Earth Kingdom, with her light skin and ebony hair. Her clothes were a dead giveaway as well, green, in the old fashion on Ba Sing Se. Just where had he stumbled to?

"Lee?" Asked the old lady, frowning now. "Where are you from, boy?" She was sharp, despite her old age, Zuko could tell. He needed a backstory for this 'Lee' person who he'd become.

"I'm from the colonies, ma'am." He responded, reminded of the way that his subjects would speak to Azula. The old healer didn't say anything, instead, she crouched next to him, her joints cracking in the silent room. Shei offered a polite bow to the woman before rushing towards one of the vine shelves. She was soon back with three cups and a bowl, filling the latter first. She handed it to Zuko and he accepted.

"That is a mighty fine splint, girl. You did well. He'll be keeping his leg." Spoke the woman as Zuko gulped down the broth with speed that even surprised him. It was the most delicious thing he'd ever eaten. Even in the palace, he'd never tried anything quite so fulfilling. The bowl was soon empty and he lowered it to the side, watching the healer undo the splint and poke is leg for a moment. "Tell me where it hurts, boy." She demanded.

"There." Zuko sucked in a breath as the sharp pain came. "And there!" He almost yelled when her bony old thumb prodded another spot. The healer let out a grunt of displeasure, getting up. This woman was seriously making him miss the healer from his ship. Now, that man had had respect and been gentle. And this old woman… She was crazy! Zuko thought when he saw her dig out a worm from a jar and place it in the mortar, crushing it.

"Here, drink this." Shei was next to him again, offering a cup of something. Zuko didn't question it this time. He was too tired to think. He was too tired to be suspicious. They couldn't be worse than those things on that island back there. "It will help with the pain." Shei explained, again, unnecessarily, as Zuko gulped the sweet, cool liquid. He handed her the cup back, but his hand suddenly feeling rather heavy. She gave him another smile, and the banished prince thought that she was rather lucky, being able to smile as easily as she did. He hadn't smiled in a long time. Not since…

"W-what did you give me?" Zuko stammered, his mind thoughts messy and muddled, as if he had a high fever. She had poisoned him! She knew who he was!

"Shhhh!" Shei shushed him, for the first time gently, her arms coming to grasp his numb body, slowly lowering him so that he was lying with his head in her lap. "You need to rest, Lee. You need to heal." Zuko guessed that he had looked panicked somehow, because she grasped his hand with her own, much cooler one and told him comfortingly. "I'll be here when you wake up. I promise."

The last thing he thought was how smooth her hands were and that he hoped that his bite wouldn't leave a mark on them. It would be a pity for a girl to have a scar on such lovely hands.

* * *

Zuko awoke to a strangely unfamiliar cool and shivered. He slowly opened his eyes and looked about, checking his surroundings. He definitely was  _not_  on his warship any longer. Then, the memories of his demise came flooding back. Storm. Sea. Island. Water.  _Those_  people. Running. Pain. Running. More pain. More running. Shei. Flying beast. Island. Healer. Drink.  _I'll be there when you wake up. I promise._ She had promised. She had such smooth, cool hands. And she promised. Well, he was pathetic.

Zuko pushed himself up, marveling for a second how he had had such a good rest on a simple, old pillow in front of the fire pit in a hut. He looked at his leg to see it bandaged in snowy white and held in a completely new, this time obviously professional splint. So, the crazy old healer actually knew what she was doing.

His mind was much clearer now, whether because of the rest or the medicine, Zuko wasn't sure. But, regardless, he was glad. His stomach rumbled, twisting and the boy placed his hand over it. What was that? Was he sick? Maybe he had picked up a tropical illness of some sort. The curtain of shells sounded from the entrance and the old healer appeared in his vision.

"Boy." She greeted him, her eyes taking him in once more. "Why don't you grab another bowl." It wasn't a question, but an order. She passed him a wooden bowl from the table and Zuko curiously peeked inside. This time, it wasn't filled with hot soup, but with meat, cheese and bread. He dug in with his fingers, mouth watering at the delicious scent of food. "You'll most likely have the full use of your leg back. Just, keep your weight off of it for the next few weeks."

"Fef feeks?!" The prince began coughing, his food stuck in the middle. The old healer gave him a cup and he chugged it down. Water. Good, they weren't trying to sedate him again.

"Yes." The healer said. "You were lucky. With all that running, you could've lost your leg completely." The healer explained, sitting in front of him. There was silence in the room for a moment, while Zuko's mind whirled about.

"How did you know?" He asked. Shei wouldn't say anything, would she? No, she had ratted him out. Of course she had.

"You're not a child that I delivered into this world, so you're not from the islands." The healer told him, her hands reaching for one of the nearby bundles of colorful flowers. "You must be a drifter then. And, judging by the rope burns on your hands, I'd guess you landed on Dir Dranc." Her bony, old fingers separated the leaves, the flowers and the stems of the plants, putting them in different cloth baggies. "Rather unfortunate, I must say. You were lucky that that silly girl found you. It is forbidden to go to that island."

"W-what were those things?" Finally, asked the boy, lowering his bowl and looking straight at the old woman. She tilted her head to the side, as if she was thinking.

"Some say that they are the first people. Some say that they are corrupt people. Some say that they are spirits." She explained in a grave voice. "It doesn't really matter. They have no name. No language that we know. No culture so to speak of. They are just  _they_. We leave them alone and they leave us alone." The woman then looked at him, her brown eyes sparkling in a warning. "You mustn't tell anyone where Shei found you or you will bring her great trouble, do you understand me, boy? It is  _forbidden_  to go to Dir Dranc."

"I understand." Replied Zuko, picking up the last of the meat and cheese and stuffing it in his mouth. He had to admit, this old lady's cooking tasted so much better than anything he had ever tried in the palace.

"Now, why don't you tell me what happened to you,  _Lee_?" Asked the healer, smiling, and Zuko was pretty sure that she could see right through his lies. Regardless, he launched into a short story, making sure to mix the truth with his fantasy persona, just to make it more believable. He didn't make any mention of him being a firebender. He hoped to keep that for himself, since he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be received with open arms if they knew.

* * *

It was a couple of hours later that Shei came into the hut, fuming. She talked in hushed tones to the old healer, Naneh, if Zuko remembered correctly, before addressing him.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you woke up, Lee." She offered an apologetic smile, quite genuine and an unusual sight for the banished prince. Even back in the palace, even among his family and friends, no one had treated him like this. Like an equal, realized Zuko. "I got held up by my old man, Mame." She plopped down on the other side of the fire pit, bowl already in hand and reaching over to the cooking pot. "I'm halfway there to convincing him to let you stay with us until your leg is fine." Grinned the girl, this time mischievously, as she poured the broth like she owned it.

It was like someone had poured molten lava over him.

"That won't be necessary." Zuko replied, his tone a little clipped this time. He couldn't afford to wait for his leg to heal while literally sitting on a beach on a tropical island. He  _needed_  to find the Avatar and restore his honor. There were still two Air Temples to search. He couldn't spare a day, much less a couple of weeks. "If you could lend me a messenger hawk I will write to my uncle. He must be looking for me by now." When he noticed that Shei was frowning, her mouth full, he added. "As soon as my uncle arrives, we would recompense you generously for all your trouble."

Shei's frown deepened. "The coin isn't really the problem, Lee. It's the actual messaging." She drank the rest of the soup quickly and then lowered the bowl. "We are on an island quite a bit away from the Mainland. The next time that a trip will be made over there is in a week."

Zuko was in between pulling his ponytail out and roaring like a tigerdillo, firebending effects included. A week? He wouldn't be able to contact his uncle for a week? And even then, who knew how far away the warship had sailed from their original position… From what he could recall, the island that he had landed on had been at least an hour or so away from this one, and that was as the eaglelion flies. All in all, he was doomed.

"I could try and convince them to move the trip up." Shei spoke, clearly trying to cheer him up. "But, I'm not sure how well that would work. We would need to catch enough fish to trade, before we go to the Mainland. Maybe I could move it up a couple of days?"

"That would be helpful." Zuko replied, his hand reaching to scratch the bandage on the left side of his face. He noticed the way that Shei was looking at the motion, but it wasn't with pity, like he'd seen his crew do.

"I'm sorry that healer Naneh wasn't able to remove that burn." The girl finally spoke, twisting a piece of string from her simple shirt around her fingers. "She said that it's too deep."

"It's fine." Replied the prince numbly. It wasn't fine. It sure as Agni's damnation wasn't fine. He would forever bear the mark of the disgrace which he had committed on his face. His ruined honor. His disfigurement. The mark of a coward. Because that was what he was, a coward. A banished coward of a Prince.

The two teens stayed silent for a while, Zuko lost in thought and Shei looking mighty uncomfortable. Then, the silence was broken by the gentle sound of the seashells clanking one against the other. Healer Naneh, complete with her skull-mask this time, entered the hut, walking right over to the Prince and pulling him up. Zuko was a little surprised, but managed to get his good leg underneath him.

"I spoke with Mame." She explained, gesturing with her free hand for Shei to get up as well. "He'll be letting you stay with them, boy." Then, the skull turned to Zuko, and he would never say it out loud, but it freaked him out a bit. "Don't cause too much trouble and come here the day after tomorrow for me to check on your wounds."

"I-"

"Of course, healer Naneh." Shei was quick to cut him off, grabbing him from the other side and helping him out of the hut. "Thank you for treating him." And Zuko echoed that with a silent nod. The old healer's head tilted to the side, but he couldn't tell if she was exasperated or content.

"Don't be back here with more wounds now, boy." She scolded in a light voice. "And remember to change the bandage on his burn like I told you!" The last shout followed after them as they exited the small home.

Zuko shivered.

He suddenly realized the difference in temperature and just how hot it had been inside the old woman's hut. The night had fallen. As he was a firebender, he had never really had a problem with cold, not since his uncle had taught him that clever move: fire breath. It could warm you even in the North Pole, the coldest place in the world.

"I'm sorry but we'll have to walk down the mountain." Informed him Shei as she slowly helped him as a living crutch. "Jami was too tired to come pick you up. He had to work with old man the whole day  _after_  flying us off that retched island." When Zuko didn't speak, she continued, just like he expected her to. "Jami is a real good flier, I'm not saying that he's not. It's just that he gets tired. He's still young, you know. And, he usually only has me on his back." Shei pulled him slightly, directing him towards the right path in the darkness. Now that they'd moved away from the hut, there was nothing but the moon and stars to light their way. "This way." She said. "There are stairs here which we'll use to go all the way down." The girl explained. And then, their descent began.

It took them an hour or two, with short breaks from time to time, to get all the way down the mountain. Zuko learned that even if he didn't speak much Shei wouldn't find it offensive, instead, she would consider it an invitation to chatter. She'd told him how there were only a few families living on the island, around thirty or so, and that they didn't use money, like the Mainland, but rather traded goods. She lived with an old man named Mame and his wife, Ela, who apparently weren't her  _real_  parents. What did that even mean? That she was adopted or something?

Their family was mostly in charge of fishing, as Mame was a very good fisherman. And Ela had a bar which she ran on the island beach. It was quite popular with both youngsters and adults, as Shei described it. She explained how she'd found Jami as a cub and brought him home and how Mame had let her keep him after a lot of begging.

She'd spoken of the girl named Kitanna, who Zuko wasn't sure what to think about. In one moment, Shei described her as a friend, and then in a flash, she was telling him how mean the said girl was. Girls were mental, he decided finally, almost shaking his head as Shei finished another tale of how Kitanna had gotten her to try and ride an elephant stingray.

Finally, they sighted the village. It was a small settlement of houses, reminding Zuko of Ember Island, his family's old vacation spot. It was a little ways off the beach, nestled in between palm trees and oleanders, as far as his knowledge of trees went. The homes were mostly simple wooden and straw huts, dug into the shifty ground with bases of white stones from the mountain. There was only one fancier building, on the furthest side of the village from them, its wooden frame much bigger and decorated with golden and silver details, sea shells hanging all over the place and clanking rather pleasantly in the wind.

"That's the Hall of Shells." Obviously, Shei had caught him staring. Unabashedly, even though he could feel the blush on his cheeks, Zuko continued looking at the simple, yet gorgeous building.

"Does your cheif live there?" He asked. He figured they had a system much like the Southern Water Tribe, with a cheiftain to lead their affairs. But, Shei giggled at his assumption, a sound that reminded him of his sister's teasing laughter and Zuko frowned.

"No, silly." The girl told him, changing direction and going in the opposite way of the fancy Hall. "Our village is led by the Free Court. Every citizen over eighteen in allowed to participate in the decision making."

"Everyone? Even women?" Zuko wondered, his interest piqued. He had learned the way of politics and economy from his royal tutors, but they always spoke of the Kings or the Lords leading their countries. There were no councils except the Council of Elders, which could help out the Lord if it was necessary. Other than that, they were really a bunch of old nobles who sat around the whole day and did nothing. His great-grandfather, Sozin, had made sure that the Council had as little power as possible.

"Yeah. But, women don't participate too often. They are busy with children or work, so it's up to men most of the time." Shei spoke again, interrupting his thoughts. "The village is divided into four major groups of work: The homing section, supply section, traveling crew and arts and crafts section. There are always an equal number of adults from each group in the Court and they are in charge of all the capital decisions. For example: there isn't enough fish to go round to everyone. What do you think they'd decide?" She turned to Zuko with a happy grin.

"Go and buy some other provisions on land." He fired off without thinking, his teachings kicking in.

"Wrong!" Commented Shei, laughing again. "They'd assign more people to the fishing crew and gatherers."

"But, why not buy from the land?" Zuko wondered, frowning. "It's easier. You wouldn't have to work so hard and you would be able to live in a fair amount of luxury."

"But, if we stopped working, the wheel would break and our community would be destroyed." Said Shei. "You work and then you earn. That's how you're useful here. Everybody has their place." Before Zuko had the time to truly ponder on her words about the society which she lived in, Shei spoke once more. "Here we are."

* * *

**That's all for now folks!  
I hope that you're enjoying Zuko's adventure with Shei and I look forward to hearing from you.**


	4. The peace of Tir Mor

**Hello and welcome!**

* * *

**I hope that you all enjoy this chapter :D I've been slow with updating as I've been traveling. If anyone's thinking of visiting Istanbul, I highly recommend it! It's a magical place :D**

* * *

**I'm looking forward to hearing more from you guys :)**

* * *

**Something to think about:  
** _"Sharing tea with a fascinating stranger is one of life's true delights."_ —Iroh

* * *

**Chapter 4: The peace of Tir Mor**

Shei didn't know that healer Naneh had said to old man Mame, but she sure as hell was grateful. The grumpy fisherman had opened the hut door for them and greeted the teen duo with a scowl on his face. He was a tall, lean man, with tan skin and dark eyes. His hair was completely grey already, pulled back into a low ponytail at the base of his bony neck. He always smelled of fish, which was due to his job and he was a bit hard of hearing, so Shei often had to yell to get through to him.

"Old man Mame, Lee." Shei awkwardly introduced, attempting to dissolve the thick air. The boy looked more than a little afraid, as if he wasn't sure that if would be the one on the menu that night. "Lee, this is my old man, Mame."

"Pleased to meet you, errrr-sir." The teen greeted, looking upwards at the stern fisherman. Old Mame didn't react to that greeting for a moment. Then, he snorted and turned around, going into the wooden hut.

"Bring him in." The man growled in his familiar, scratchy tone. Old Mame had always been a grumpy man. Shei had asked his wife, the gentle woman named Ela, numerous times about their time together and if the fisherman had always been the way he is. She had told the girl quite a few stories and all of them painted old Mame just how he was: grumpy and quite humorless. Old Mame valued hard work over everything else. He enjoyed a good meal and a mug of mead at the end of his workday and other than that, he cared for little except Ela.

"He's not that bad, I swear." Shei reassured the boy next to her, who looked quite a bit panicked. Then, she helped him up the rest of the steps, still acting as his living crutch, and into their humble home. Old Mame's house was near the beach, a couple of minutes away from their bar. It was a simple structure of wood, built on a tall, stilt-like construction. Underneath it, on a wooden patio, was a comfortable space for relaxing with lounge chairs and a simple table. There was also an open summer kitchen, where Ela and Shei often made simple tarts and salads during the hottest days.

But, they were headed upstairs. Shei knew the house by heart already, but she enjoyed the way their guest looked around in wonder. The whole house was made out of pale wood, carefully filed into perfection to make sure that no water came in during the typhoon season. It had four rooms, simply furnished and decorated in the island's style: with sea shells. As soon as one entered, they came into the living space of the house.

"Here we go." Shei led Zuko towards the only table and chairs in the room, pulling one out and making him sit there. By then, old man Mame had lowered himself on the other side, as the head of the table, staring down the teenage boy who was looking around, taking in the space.

"Oh, there you are!" A female voice came from the door as Ela, Mame's wife, entered the house. Zuko whirled around, twisting in his chair to be able to see her. Ela was a short woman, barely reaching old Mame's shoulder, with a thick, long braid of pale, greying hair. Shei knew that she had once been a brunette, her hair straight and shiny, typical to the Earth Kingdom. Her eyes were kind, brown and so warm, with crinkles on the side from all the laughing. If you asked Shei to describe an ideal mother to someone, she'd picture Ela.

"Oh spirits! You look terrible, sweetheart! How did you get such a horrible wound? Did healer Naneh say that it will heal properly?" The woman chattered, coming close to the boy and tilting his head back in a motherly fashion, taking a closer look at the bandaged eye. "Oh, spirits! It's good that Shei found you! You two are two birds of a feather." Ela continued without giving Zuko a chance to speak, heading towards the cabinets on the other side of the room, opening them and pulling out bowls and plates. "She used to get injured so often when she played around the island with the boys!"

"Ela!" Mumbled Shei, embarrassed. She didn't want her caretaker to tell all the shameful stories of her shenanigans to the teenage boy at their table.

"Please, do tell." Zuko interrupted, a small grin coming to rest on his face. Shei tossed him a wide-eyed look and his smirk widened. Obviously, he was enjoying her embarrassed side. Ela was already chattering away, though, re-telling a story of how the older boys in the village had dared Shei to climb the mountain cliffs with them, which was a proof of bravery, and she had fallen and broken her arm. Shei gave Zuko a nasty look, but stood and went to help her caretaker in setting the table.

"You should've seen how they looked when they brought her back! All terrified that we would be mad about her injury!" Ela laughed, setting the last of the pots on the table. "Did you get into much trouble back in the colonies, Lee? Surely, you boys had lots of fun growing up?" And the woman sat down, pulling in her chair with a creek, her brown eyes twinkling with interest.

"Not really." Answered Zuko, looking down at his hands. Shei noted that they had little cuts and bruises all over them.

"That's alright, you may keep your secrets!" Ela laughed merrily. "I trust that you youngsters have quite a few stories which you don't want to tell this old woman." And then she took the ladle and began pouring soup into the wooden bowls. "Tell me, Shei, did you get any fish today?"

And with that, the conversation steered away from their guest, much to both teens' relief.

* * *

"So, here you go." Shei helped Zuko into a room, closing the door behind them. She let out a sigh as soon as she did, leading the boy to the nearby bed. "As cool as Mame and Ela are, they are a bit overbearing, no?"

Zuko shrugged, looking around the room. "They seem okay." He commented, taking one of the seashells off the wooden nightstand and inspecting it. "Much more welcoming than my family, anyways." Shei leaned against the small armoire in the corner, her brow furrowed. The teenage boy in front of her hadn't spoken much about personal matters to either her or Naneh.

She'd talked to the old healer while he was out because of the medicine.  _They_ 'd done him in pretty good, from what the woman had told her. A leg fracture, a couple of nasty cuts to bleed him faster, bruises that would undoubtedly form all over his body and a burn on his face. The old woman had told Shei that the burn hadn't been done in the last couple of days and that it had been a direct attack, probably from a firebender.

"I know the place isn't too fancy, but it's home, you know?" Said the girl, steering the conversation away from obviously painful topics. The boy had told her that he was travelling with his uncle, but nothing much beyond that. "There are some of Daruka's old nightclothes in the drawer over there, washed, I promise." She assured him with a smile when he scrunched up his nose in distaste. "I'll give you some privacy, but feel free to holler if you need me. I'm just a door down from you." As she headed for the door, the girl offered one more piece of advice. "Oh, and, stay away from the left side of the bed. We couldn't fix it so it creaks pretty badly." After receiving a small nod, the girl left with a short wave.

Shei headed to her own room, passing the door to Ela's and old Mame's bedroom. Her door was made of wood, like the rest of them, without a key or a keyhole. Such things weren't necessary on Tir Mor. Everyone knew everyone. Shei's room was simple, humble, all in wood like the rest of the house. The only decorations were the seashells fixed into the fisherman's net, which had been ripped beyond repair some years ago, that the young girl had strung all over one wall, hanging from the ceiling to the floor. She liked that net for some reason and she loved attaching more useless things to it. It held so many memories for her.

A shell that she'd found on the beach when Ela and Mame had adopted her. The natural pearl that Daruka, a boy from the neighborhood, had gifted her for her birthday. A sparkling pebble from the healing pools deep inside another island. A piece of bark from one of the trees that Shei had helped cut down. Her first attempts at patching up a net, practiced on the useless one on her wall. So many memories. Shei grinned to herself, looking forward to having even more adventures on the island, hopefully with her new companion, Lee.

She toed off her sandals and went to the only window in her room, ignoring the way that sand on the floorboards got in between her toes. She wondered if their guest was annoyed by all the sand. He had looked quite disgruntled by so many things on Tir Mor. He had seemed rather annoyed by the simple meal which they had shared earlier, even more so with Ela's questions about him and his travels. Shei supposed, by the way he had been dressed, that Lee came from a family of noble status, used to servants and comfort, unlike her. Undoubtedly, he was in for a surprise on the island, as everyone was expected to do a fair amount of work there.

The window creaked as she opened it, peering out. A familiar brown head was on the small ledge beneath her window, and as soon as Shei moved back, its owner jumped up and into the room. Jami's feline body was quite graceful as he effortlessly scaled the expanse of around a meter, before thumping around the room, his claws scraping the floor.

"Hello to you, too." Shei gave a small smile, leaving the window open and heading for her small dresser. She stripped out of her everyday clothing, a simple white shirt and dark pants, and undid her chest bindings. Her breasts were getting bigger and bigger, much to Kitanna's jealousy and Shei's joy. Pretty soon, she'd be able to go to Miss Ajala, the best seamstress that they had, to order her own, proper chest bindings, not the makeshift ones that Ela had given her. She already knew which color she wanted them in: turquoise.

Jami's massive snout pushed against her and Shei allowed herself to faceplant onto her bed. The large cat gently pushed her legs further onto the mattress, so that they wouldn't hang awkwardly on the side. Shei smiled into her pillow and turned around to her side, patting the space next to her.

"Come on, Jami." She grinned. "Ela will forgive us." The feline jumped gracefully upwards once again, settling its massive body next to his mistress. Shei was careful of his feathery wings and area around them as she caressed his fur, scratching around his ears and under his chin, just the way Jami loved it. The cat purred like a harmless house feline, almost making the teen forget that this was, in fact, an eaglelion and not a domestic animal at all.

As she lay in her bed, allowing her mind to drift and simply enjoying the moment, which was a thing that Shei often did, she heard the creaky bed in the guest room squeak as their guest moved around, seeking a better position. She closed her eyes, making a mental note to get a new, thicker mattress for the bed in question tomorrow. Finally, the creaking stopped and the only thing that Shei could hear was Jami's lazy purr and the gentle breathing of the ocean as it hugged the shores of Tir Mor.

Her hand slowly stilled on Jami's back.

* * *

Shei rose early.

Well, it was more like Jami rose early. The large feline had jumped off of her bed, not caring if he stepped on her a bit or woke her at all, as usual. And once Shei was up, she was up. She had never been able to continue sleeping after waking up once. The girl had pulled on a loose dress and stumbled into the kitchen, grabbing a moon peach and a knife and heading out to the beach.

It was quiet at this time of the morning, almost eerie in a way. The white sand stood in contrast with the clear, dark blue water, the picture glistening in the early hours. Shei had dropped down near the waves, so that they could touch her bare feet, and bitten into her moon peach. The sweet juice dripped down her chin, her hand and arm, finally hitting her leg. But, it wasn't like she was really bothered by it. The girl quickly finished the fruit, eating everything but the surprisingly small pit in the center. That, she kept in her mouth, biting into it absentmindedly.

Shei picked up the knife from beside her and quickly began her work. She glided the blade carefully against her leg, taking off the hair which had grown there. She finished in record time, with only a couple of shallow cuts and then stood up, heading into the sea to wash off. She first cleaned the knife and tossed it back onto the beach, watching as it perfectly embedded itself into the sand. With a grin, her teeth still biting into the sour pit of the moon peach, the girl waded further into the sea.

Then, she dove.

She swam a little bit before turning onto her back and allowing herself to simply float, relaxing. The cuts that she'd made on her leg stung a bit, but Zuko's bite on her hand was a bit worse. It was the latter which cut her dip short and the girl decided to go back to the house before her guest woke. She was looking forward to taking him around and introducing him to everyone, after all.

Zuko was the first drifter they'd had in a couple of years. The Tun Chain lay in the middle of the ocean, in between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. Loads of ships passed it every day, but most captains knew quite well to avoid the small line of islands. Due to their volcanic nature and the treacherous reefs around them, it was pure folly to attempt to dock on one. After all, the area was full of storms almost all year round.

Sure enough, an occasional drifter or remains of a ship would get pushed out onto one of the islands' shores, but that wasn't a very frequent thing. Most of the time, the only thing that floated from the Mainland to the Tun Chain were the skilled fisherman from the islands on their tiny boats, bringing in the necessary provisions and news from the Earth Kingdom.

Shei climbed the familiar steps to their house with ease, her wet feet leaving footprints in the wood behind her. She was still dripping, her braids completely soaked. Not that that was a very uncommon sight. Most of the islanders took a dip in the ocean during the day and could be seen wringing their clothes out absentmindedly in the sun.

Shei went to the kitchenette in the corner of the house, leaving the knife in the dirty dishes, tossing her pit and then froze, listening. A creak resounded in the calmness of the morning, distinctly different from the soft rushing of the waves. The girl smiled, taking out a plate and a new knife, quickly taking apart a pineapple, a couple bananas and a moon peach, placing them all together. She went to the only guest room, really, a quickly transformed store-room, and knocked on the door.

"I'm awake." Answered the voice of their guest, sounding like he'd just woken up, and the girl entered with a smile.

"Good morning!" She greeted and walked in like she owned the room. She placed the food on the small dresser along the way and walked over to the boy. "How are you feeling?" Zuko was still in his bed blinking owlishly at the girl, his hair loose and messy. Shei found herself thinking that he looked rather cute. Kind of like a polar beardog puppy.

"I'm fine. And you?" She could tell that it was an automatic response, but the girl nodded eagerly anyways, happy with the attention. She'd found that the boy didn't speak much, and when he did, he carefully thought his words over. It wasn't often that something slipped, but when it did, he was almost always bitter about the information.

"I slept like a log!" Shei said, sitting on the edge of his bed and opening the drawer of the nightstand. Sure enough, she found the fresh bandages and the salve that healer Naneh had given her there, just like she'd told Ela to put it. There was a medium sized bowl on the nightstand, full of clear water. Ela must've crept into the room and left it there after she'd gotten up. "I'll re-dress your burn and then you can get some breakfast, alright?"

Without waiting for a response, as she wasn't really counting on getting one, Shei dipped a bandage into the water, letting it rest there. She reached over to the boy, who flinched a bit, but allowed her to take off the wrapping around his head and expose his developing burn scar. Shei frowned as she reached over and took the bandage from the water and wrung it out.

"Lay down." The boy looked like was about to protest her gentle order, but then decided against it. As soon as his head hit the pillow, Shei pushed herself up on her knees and slowly lay the wet bandage over his left eye, careful not to pop any blisters. Zuko sucked in a sharp breath, closing his eyes, and then slowly let it out, relaxing. "Did I hurt you?" Shei immediately asked, looking at his visible eye in concern.

"No. No, it's just cold." He replied, opening his eye once again. Shei found herself staring at his visible eye, mesmerized with just how golden it was. It reminded her of Jami's eyes. Wild, untamed and angry. So angry. Why was he angry? Not at her, she hoped. But there was something else there, in his eye. A spark of sorts that she couldn't identify. But, she could see it alright. "What are you looking at?" The boy asked her, making her jerk back and sit on the edge of his bed.

"Sorry." Shei replied, feeling a blush coming onto her cheeks. Suddenly, she was very grateful for her tan skin. "It's the first time I've seen eyes like yours. They're like fire." She caught her mistake, her breath stopping in her throat and her hand slapping over her mouth. The boy snorted.

"Like fire, alright." He commented, his hand coming to take off the wet bandage as he sat up once more. "Can you wrap this up so that I can eat?" His tone had taken on a clipped, angry note which Shei wasn't sure that she liked. It sounded like he was very used to ordering people around. She didn't like it one bit.

But, he was her guest.

"Of course." She replied, pulling out the salve that healer Naneh had given her. They didn't talk after that.

* * *

" _How_  are you so good at this?!" Zuko groaned, slamming his hands on the table, playing cards flying everywhere. Shei couldn't resist cackling from the other side of the table, beginning to collect the deck once more.

"Nine out of ten?" The girl asked her eyes sparkling. While she wanted to give the disgruntled teen another chance, she knew that the likeliness of him beating her at a game were quite low. "Or should we switch games once more?"

"Argh! I'm picking the game this time!" Zuko told her, his hands going over his bald head in annoyance. "We're going to play f-" And then he froze for a moment. Shei was looking at him expectantly. She tilted her head, her braids falling to the side, over her shoulder.

"F-what?" She asked, her smile slipping. They'd settled into the living area underneath the house after breakfast and had casually played a couple of card games. So far, she had had to explain each of them to him before they played, and she promptly kicked his butt in them every time.

"Forget it!" He burst out finally, his hand reaching up and scratching at his itching scar. The sole amber eye connected to Shei's curious gaze, full of some sort of fury which she couldn't decipher. "When can I write to my Uncle anyways?" He demanded.

"I'm not sure." Shei replied, lowering the cards on the table. "Shall we go to Miss Ajala and get you some proper clothes?" She switched topics quickly, not wanting to lose her guest's interest. He gave her an exasperated look.

"I don't need new clothes! I just want to contact my Uncle, okay?!" His voice rose gradually and in the end, the boy stood, staggering a bit, slamming his hand against the table once more.

"Lee… I-" Shei began.

"I know!" He finally yelled, slumping back down into his wooden chair with a groan. "You can't help me." He folded his arms across his chest and focused his gaze to the side, ignoring the girl in front of him. Shei let out a sigh, the silence stretching between them uncomfortably. She fiddled with her fingers for a moment, biting her lip nervously. While she wanted to help Zuko and stay on his good side, she knew that the boat wouldn't be able to leave with a message until they caught enough fish to sell. And with how the things were looking, as she had checked with old Mame, not even half of the tank had been filled.

Shei's fingers stilled and she splayed them over the old table with a soft trump of each digit. She looked at the unmistakably sulking boy in front of her and grinned, her eyes determined. "I have a  _craaazy_  idea." She finally told him, a short cackle escaping her. The amber eye fixed on her curiously.

"What?"

"Well…" And Shei leaned in, making Zuko come closer as well to hear every single detail of her diabolical plan.

* * *

"What do you think?" Miss Ajala asked, smiling softly. She was a rather tall woman, slim and pale. Her chestnut hair was always in soft waves, loose around her, and decorated with a bandana or flowers. She wore fashionable, flowing dresses of bright yellows and greens, much like the highest fashions of Ba Sing Se and she thought herself the best seamstress in the area. Well, that much was true.

"I look ridiculous." Complained Zuko, holding tightly onto the crutch which had been made specifically for him. He looked at the mirror of the shop and then turned to Shei who was struggling holding in her laughter. She wasn't sure which was more comical, the obviously ill-fit green clothing or the disgruntled look on his face. "Even  _she_  thinks that I look ridiculous." He complained to Miss Ajala, whose smile was instantly wiped off her face.

"Shei is quite a tomboy, I'll have you know!" The woman defended her talents, turning to Shei now. "Off with you! Wait outside!" And after that, Shei scrambled off the three-legged chair and hurried out, her cackling laughter ringing out after her. She sat outside, hearing her guest's protests and Miss Ajala's persistent lecture of Earth Kingdom's fashion.

It was a couple of minutes later than Zuko emerged from the young woman's house, looking as grumpy as ever. Shei's eyes widened a bit, but she managed to cover her surprise and smiled instead. Instead, she brought her fingers to her mouth and whistled loudly, making the boy jump a bit, staggering from his injured leg.

"Wha-" He growled, his ears and neck coloring when he saw her cat calling at him. "What do you think you're doing!?" Now even his face was red. Shei dissolved into giggles, running up the stairs and to the patio to help him out.

"What? Never gotten appreciated by a girl before?" She cheekily asked him, causing him to brush her helping hand away and clumsily try to descend the wooden stairs. Shei stood for a second, looking at the boy from behind him. Truly, Miss Ajala had done a great job. Instead if the painfully green clothing of the Earth Kingdom, she had slipped the boy into a pair of white, loose pants which pooled around his knees, showing off the splint on his injured leg. His shirt was a simple, blue and white one, sleeveless, which stuck rather close to his lean body. On his head was a bandana, tied in the way that the men of the village wore it, matching his top. Truly, one wouldn't be able to tell him from the other kids in the village now. And, he looked  _good._

"Are you coming or not?" The teen growled at Shei, making her snap out of her daydream. She bit her lip and ran down the stairs, coming up to join him.

"Let's go get Daruka." She snaked her arm around his, letting him use her for support on the sandy terrain and the two teens headed out. Shei swore to herself that her heated cheeks had nothing to do with the boy next to her. No, it was just the sun.

It was pretty hot out.

* * *

**That's all folks!  
I hope to hear from you in the reviews :)**


	5. Simple pleasures and simple plans

**Hello and welcome!**

* * *

**My thanks goes out to my wonderful beta C-Lif3 from FFN who's been doing a great job with my haphazard writing xD**

**Special thanks to BornABurra from FFN for the wonderful review and numerous PMs. You're the reason for this update!**

* * *

**Here's some food for your minds:**

" _There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest you think about what it is you want from your life, and why." – Iroh_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Simple pleasures and simple plans**

Zuko was fairly doubtful of Shei's mastermind plan.

Well, more like it was a rather ordinary plan. He had, after all, gone over numerous books, scrolls and battle reports which were complex and well thought through. This… This was just a simple plot, really. Straightforward. Though, he soon understood why Shei had been so excited by it.

They had arrived quickly to her friend's house. A boy named Daruka lived there, from what Shei had told him, and he was a good pal of hers, apparently. The door had opened after the girl's few knocks only to reveal an older teen. Zuko put him somewhere between fifteen and eighteen, which was at least two years older than him, and Agni knew how much older than Shei. He had smelled trouble before it unfolded.

"You're insane, Shei!" Daruka argued, shaking his head after the girl had finished laying out her plan to him. "First of all, you want us to take a boat out on our own, without adults, and  _then_ you want us to go into dangerous waters to fish! What if we stumble upon an electric rayshark? Huh? Did you think of that?"

"But Daruka!" Shei whined. "Lee needs to send the letter to his Uncle." She justified. "Imagine if it were you. Would you want your Aunt Mana to worry? Or would you do everything in your power to get a message to her?" Daruka's eyes faltered for a moment, looking at his rough hands, but then he glared Shei down once more.

"This is not the way to do that, Shei!" He argued, sitting down into his chair. "If you have any other ideas, I'll listen. But, you are  _not_  going into Hurricane Cove to fish without permission!" Shei slumped back in her own seat, defeated and pouting. Zuko rubbed his forehead, exhausted from their fight.

"What if we weren't on a boat?" He asked, looking at Shei. She gave him a confused look. "You said it's a cove, right?" After receiving a nod, he continued. "Why not just spread the net from land to land, using your eaglelion?" Shei's eyes widened, a grin forming on her face and she whirled around to fix Daruka with a hopeful look. The older teen was frowning, looking fairly disgruntled.

" _Technically_ , we wouldn't be breaking any rules, right?" She was grinning and Zuko found his own mouth tugging up at the corners, hopefully. Daruka let out a sigh, his hand raking through his longish hair.

"Fine." He groaned. Shei whooped loudly, embracing Zuko from the side enthusiastically. "Wa-wait!" The older teen tried to calm her down. "Who else were you planning on bringing? We need a crew for this, Shei." The girl let go of Zuko, who self-consciously turned his blushing face away from her.

"Well, we can take Kitanna?" She asked, like it was a question. "And maybe Kanan?" She was looking around now, like she wasn't sure who else to name and as if they would jump out of a drawer or something and volunteer.

"You never think things through." Daruka sighed, causing Zuko to grin. He was more than familiar with that scolding phrase. His Uncle always told him that  _he_  never thought things through. Maybe, he and Shei could get along quite well, he figured, glancing to the girl next to him. She was sheepishly smiling at Daruka.

"Well, I was hoping that you'd get some of your sailor-wannabe buddies on board?"

Daruka slapped his forehead.

* * *

In all honesty, Zuko was pissed. This had been his idea. This whole fishing from land thing. And, he wouldn't even get to be a part of it. He had taken a moment to wonder why he actually  _cared_ about doing a peasant's duty, a surprisingly familiar voice chiming about the disgrace of it in his head. His sister's cold, calculated tone. Then, he had concluded that it was  _his_  idea and that it was only normal that  _he_  wanted to do it himself. Surprisingly, this was said in a calm and caring tone, much like his Uncle's voice. At least Shei had managed to convince the group to allow him to go with them.

Ah, the group.

There were a few teens who'd decided to come along on the fishing trip, some eager to help out the newcomer and some simply wanting some things from the Mainland to arrive faster. Apparently, the only way that the people from Tir Mor got books, games or even complicated, advanced Fire Nation gear was from the Mainland. Zuko had been rather disgruntled by the fact. He hoped that his Father would change his mind about taking over the stormy chain of islands and make it his finally. That way, the people would have a chance to live in prosperity and luxury here as well, with proper education.

But, back to the group.

First and foremost, there was Shei, the mastermind of the whole operation. She'd gotten properly dressed, into a pair of short pants that barely reached the middle of her slim thighs, and a casual white shirt. She'd even wrapped her numerous braids up into a bandana, like most of the islanders wore. Her legs looked ganglier now, which didn't escape the young Prince, and he found himself comparing his savior to his younger sister and her friends. But, unlike them, Shei wore a large, excited smile on her face, her piercing blue eyes twinkling at the mention of the adventure ahead of them. It was so unlike anything he'd seen in anyone before. It was a child's sort of glee.

The next person with them was Daruka, and he was obviously the oldest, as Zuko had learnt that the teen had turned sixteen last week. He was a tall, lanky sort of a guy, but the Prince could tell that he had muscles underneath his clothes. After all, he had spent hours training with different firebenders in armor. He knew how to judge physical strength. Daruka was a typical Earth Kingdom guy, and Zuko was pretty sure that he would forget the older boy's ordinary face soon. With skin tanned from his life at the island and his dark hair, the only thing that stood out on Daruka were the boy's dark green eyes. He wore a combination of dark green and dark blue, combined with white, making his style look odd. Zuko was used to seeing the colors properly separated by nations.

The third member who had joined their group, with a rather peppy squeal at the sight of Zuko himself, was a girl named Kitanna. Now, the banished Prince remembered her name already, as Shei spoke of her often, and he soon realized why. Kitanna was a hard girl to forget. She wore dresses, strictly dresses, painted her nails and had an unmistakable layer of lipstick on her pouty mouth. She was pretty, he supposed, with her ebony hair and dark, large eyes, her skin as pale as porcelain and glowing somehow. In the fancy, silk green dress, which was definitely not made by anyone from the island, Kitanna was a sight to behold. Any girl in Ba Sing Se would be jealous of her. But, Zuko was no girl. As soon as she had joined them and introduced herself, she had given him a telltale wicked smile, which he decided casually to shrink away from. He was quite familiar with that kind of a smile and he knew that he wanted no contact with it.

Three more guys had come to their meeting place, the Beach Bar, after Shei's friend. But, Zuko really wasn't good at telling them apart. One of them was rather muscled, with an open shirt and a slow brain, from what the Prince could tell. He kept making advances towards Kitanna, who was much more interested into slinking over to Zuko himself. The Prince called that one Dumb. Then, there was a slim guy, with his longish hair tied back into a ponytail which made him look like a pineapple. He was missing one tooth in front and had been all too eager to re-tell his adventure of taking on a saber-tooth moose lion which had knocked it out. The Prince didn't believe him one bit and had named him Pineapple in his head. And the last one of the trio was a quite average guy, tanned from his time at the beach, with a straw hat on his head. He grinned at everyone and everything and seemed to be quite out of it the whole time. At one point, the Prince had caught him talking to his own glass of juice. Zuko had named him Strawhat.

And the last member of their small team had arrived the latest. It was a boy named Kanan, whose age was probably the closest to Shei's and his own, and he had greeted them all with a sheepish smile and laugh. He was a polite fellow, tanned, like most of the islanders, and dressed in loose clothing of white and blue. His hair was short and spiky, sticking up in all directions like a wild brown bush. It only made him more memorable, as the mess couldn't be tamed even with the blue bandana on his head, tied in a much more feminine fashion, as Shei had explained to him. Out of all the newcomers, though, Zuko found that he liked Kanan the best. The boy was intelligent and he had chatted with the Prince rather casually about the war, Ba Sing Se and even his wish to see the world.

The journey to the Hurricane Cove had been rather uneventful. They had all told their caretakers that they were planning a gathering trip and brought numerous baskets with them. The only hard part was getting a net. But, Shei had managed to convince Ela to give one to Zuko, so that he could practice with it a bit, she'd embellished their plan, saying that he wanted to go with Mame on a fishing trip when his leg got better. This had earned her a jab in the ribs from the said boy, but Ela had given them the net anyways, with a knowing smile.

Zuko had been given the honor of riding Jami, Shei's eaglelion, and for once, the Prince found himself appreciating the large feline. It was a sleek animal, easily double his size, with a set of deadly teeth and claws. Zuko knew about eaglelions. Who didn't, really? They were one of the most dangerous species, among the many, and they usually frequented the uninhabited wilds of the Earth Kingdom. Sure enough, he'd never heard of one being domesticated, but he wasn't sure if Jami was really a tame eaglelion. He had a tendency to snap his jaws left and right when he wasn't happy with something. But, Zuko had figured out rather quickly that Jami was more lazy than anything else, and he had been quite comforted with that fact. After all, the animal seemed to think that it was too much work to go around a pile of rocks, obviously, it wouldn't be interested in hunting down a firebender for lunch.

It had taken them a couple of hours and a small lunch break to reach the Cove. And Agni, was it a magnificent sight! As he stood on top of the cliffside, holding tightly onto Jami's saddle, he could see the way the land had curled in on itself on the side of the island, making a small pool of crystal clear water. The sand down there was as white as on the beach in front of the village, making it easy for him to see the bright red fish that swam there without a care in the world.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Kanan asked, coming to stand next to Zuko, smiling. When the Prince nodded, the boy spoke again. "It is legend that the great Ocean Spirit, La, made this pool in order to trap his counterpart, the great Moon Spirit, Tui, so that she would never leave him."

"Why would she leave him?" Zuko found himself asking, still watching the red fish, tiny from his spot on the cliff, jumping about and playing with each other.

"Because Tui loved her freedom too much, and she left La every day to roam the world." The boy explained. "It is said that when he trapped her, on the first day, the moon went red as blood from her anguish. And La then realized, that he couldn't keep his love trapped, but that he needed to set her free. He caused a terrible storm which broke apart the cliffs and set Tui free. And since that day, all the fish that swim in the Hurricane Cove are as red as the moon was that day."

"Kanan, stop speaking nonsense!" Dumb shouted out, punching the storyteller on his shoulder playfully. The boy staggered, catching himself. "It's obvious that the Sea Goddess created this pool, just like she created many others! To play with the fish!" And then Dumb went after their leader, Daruka, who was already halfway down the steep cliff.

"Which story is true?" Zuko asked Kanan, generally curious. The boy shrugged in response, holding onto the trees as he slowly descended down the cliff as well.

"Who knows?" He tossed over his shoulder. "I guess it's up to you to decide."

Jami had gotten sick of the slow descent rather quickly and the massive feline had stretched out his impressive wings and taken off, circling down into the cove. Zuko was quite embarrassed to feel his stomach do a telltale flip as his knuckles went white from how strongly he was gripping the handles on the saddle. He let out a shameful gasp (squeak, really) and Jami tossed his head to the side, giving a growl in response.

Then, the cat leveled out, not descending anymore, but flying in a straight line, away from the cliffs. Zuko gripped the handles tighter, gritting his teeth. His stomach was doing the annoying flipping thing again, telling him that he was, in fact, terrified. Jami gave another growl, almost like a meow this time, dipping so that he came close to the crystal water and the red fish. He flew, glided really, as if he was a boat himself and Zuko found himself taking a deep, shaky breath, his mouth actually pulling into a smile.

Jami dipped one paw into the water, the cool drops bursting everywhere like tiny diamonds, landing on the eaglelion's fur and on Zuko's hands and face. The teen found himself laughing, feeling unusually carefree. It almost felt like he wasn't Zuko, a banished Prince of the Fire Nation, but rather Lee, the teenage boy from the colonies. He bent to the side, careful not to hurt his leg further, and dipped his hand into the clear water as well, enjoying the coolness of it. Jami gave a roar of delight, flying upwards like a monkeyhawk on a hunt.

Shei was waiting for the two when they landed at the base of the steep cliffs, a smile on her face. "I see that you two have bonded well." She teasingly remarked as she helped Zuko off of Jami's back.

"If you say so." The Prince had replied standoffishly, but the feline had betrayed him with a gentle nudge to his back. Truly, he thought as Shei laughed, he could learn to get along with a beast like that.

"Let's get to work."

* * *

Fishing was hard work.

The group had spread after a small break, each of them focusing on their own task. Shei and Kanan had crossed the small opening of the Cove on foot, jumping from stone to stone onto the other side of the cliffs. There, they had tied ropes into knots with loops which they would later be using to spread the net. Dumb and Strawhat were doing the same thing on their side, and Zuko could hear the latter groaning about working from his spot near the water. Pineapple was untangling the net, Kitanna helping him spread it out evenly. Daruka had taken the baskets which they had brought with them, dropping them into the water and weighing them down with a couple of stones to they barely floated. He had just tied them near to the trees on the rocky shore when he noticed Zuko peering at him curiously.

"We'll be using these to store the fish that we catch." The older boy explained, slicking his hair back with wet hands. Zuko could see the bandana around his head dripping. "Since the fish need to be sold at the market on the Mainland, we need to keep them fresh for the customers there." Daruka grunted once, pushing himself up and onto the upper rocks where Zuko was. "So, the fish needs to be alive for the journey. Caught all that, Lee?" He asked, finishing the explanation.

"Y-yes." Zuko nodded, his cheeks coloring a bit. He wasn't used to this. He was used to knowing everything. Or, at least to getting knowledge from a book. Here, on Tir Mor, everything was new. And these kids, this boy a few years older than him, he was just volunteering knowledge because of a curious gaze. Daruka ruffled his covered head as he passed him, heading off to inspect the other's work. Zuko couldn't contain his blush this time, which spread all over his ears and neck as well. He gingerly touched the bandana, making sure that it was in its proper place.

In all honesty, after watching the diligent group of teens work for at least an hour, the young Prince felt more than useless. He had ended up sitting with Jami as the feline dozed, simply staring out into the distance. He wasn't used to being useless. He wasn't used to being idle. On his ship there was always something going on. He was practicing his firebending one moment and the next he was eating food with his Uncle. He was looking at maps for one second and the next there was a storm and he was helping out on deck. They often docked left and right into different ports, asking about the Avatar, which never resulted in anything informative. They sometimes even got stopped by other Fire Nation warships. Here, Zuko was idle. He was useless. He was  _bored._

"What are you doing lazing about?" Shei came up to him, huffing, her cheeks red from the effort and the heat. "We'll be finishing up this round soon." She told him, pointing to the group that was deciding when to reel in the catch. "Why don't you make us something to drink, eh?" She huffed, pointing to one of the baskets that hadn't been submerged into the water.

"But how do I-" Zuko looked up to see her gone and frowned. "-make that…" He didn't know  _how_  to make them something to drink. But, the Prince decided to peer in the basket, interested. Underneath the lid were a bunch of sandwiches, carefully stacked and wrapped. Zuko grasped the small handle and pulled it up. A shelf-like portion of the basket came off, revealing another section. He peered in once more only to find some cups along with a tall, metal flask. Once he touched it, he realized that it was as cold as ice.

Smirking, Zuko got to work.

* * *

"Oh, wouldja look at tha'!" Commented Pineapple, grinning at the sight of Zuko's work. "Lee's been quite the useful fella over 'ere." Grinned the boy as they all sat around the makeshift picnic in a circle. Suddenly, Zuko was very grateful that his Uncle and Lu Ten had taken him on a number of picnics. He couldn't help the small smile which spread on his face, watching the teens around him chat and drink the cool lemonade he had poured.

"So, Lee." Kitanna had sat down next to him, catching him off-guard. "Tell us more about yourself." She smiled, moving into a position which gave him a perfect view of the low cut of the cleavage of her dress. "We're all  _dying_  to know how you ended up here!" After a series of nods and mumbles, followed by deafening silence, Zuko really had no choice.

"Uh- I'm from the colonies." He began awkwardly. "I'm travelling with my Uncle. Together, we're searching for an old relic." Around a hundred or so years old, in fact. "My Uncle likes to collect things, so he's quite passionate about the search." He hoards impossibly large quantities of junk on the ship. "So, I was tra-"

"Do you have any sisters?" Interrupted Dumb and Zuko noticed that the group had zoned out as he had told his story. Obviously, it was escaping their interest.

"Errr one, younger." He replied.

"Monkey feathers!" Exclaimed the teen, disappointed. "I was hoping that you'd have an older one. See, Daruka here has an older sis and boy! Let me tell you-"

"Enough!" Daruka interjected, his mouth set in a thin line. "We are not discussing my sister!" He exclaimed.

"Seriously? Lee hasn't even seen her." Dumb continued in his usual way: dumbly. He then turned to Zuko, excited. "You should see it, man. She goes swimming sometimes." Zuko tossed a look at Shei who rolled her eyes. They lived  _on_  the beach, for Agni's sake, of course she'd go for a swim sometime. "And you should  _see_  her legs, man! They're just so-" Cold lemonade splashed into Dumb's face leaving him dumbstruck. For a moment, everything was still as Daruka lowered his empty cup. Then, a cry erupted from Kanan.

"Food fight!"

And chaos ensued.

Zuko had managed to throw his juice at Pineapple, who had been rearing with a sandwich towards him, when someone's ham landed square on his face. Enraged, the Prince peeled it off and threw it towards the next poor soul, which ended up being Shei, who simply ducked and laughed it off. Kitanna was screaming, hiding skillfully behind Strawhat, who seemed to enjoy the fight quite a bit for his strangely relaxed demeanor. Dumb and Daruka had it the worst, battling it out between each other.

Pretty soon, it became a free for all, where one could use anything but a rock as a weapon. Zuko had gotten whacked with a palm leaf twice, once over his head actually, before he had managed to scramble up and away from the center of the fight.

"C'mon." Shei grabbed his arm gently, helping him away from the cliff and towards the sandy beach of the Cove. She was still laughing when they reached it, finally slowing down. From their safe spot on the sand they could still see the raging war up on the red and orange cliffside. "What are you waiting for? You have lemonade all over you!" Shei called out and Zuko turned to see her pulling off her shirt. He couldn't help the way his cheeks heated up. "Here, let me."

And she stepped towards him, clad in her shorts and chest bindings, pulling his shirt up and over his head. Zuko spluttered, trying to protest, but Shei didn't really give him a chance. Instead, she took the crutch from under his arm and threw it onto the beach along with her sandals. He caught on, slipping his own off just as she came to his side to help him walk towards the sea.

Slowly the two waded into the clear water, quickly entering the deep. Zuko found himself kicking with only one leg, struggling madly to stay afloat. He knew how to swim. After all, he had spent a number of vacations on Ember Island with his family. Back then, when his mother had still been a part of it. But, this was different. One of his legs was dead weight. He felt himself sinking, his mouth filling with water.

"Calm down, Lee." A surprisingly gentle voice came from Shei as her soft arms came around him, holding him close. Safe and above water. "If you're kicking crazy like that, you'll be sinking in a bit." He could tell from her tone that she was smiling, holding him close in a gentle yet strong grip. And Zuko found himself floating.

Shei swam, almost fish-like, her legs moving them deeper and deeper, towards the cliffside. There, the small group of teens was still having an epic showdown. But, Zuko didn't really care. He enjoyed floating in the clear water of the Hurricane Cove, allowing Shei to hold him safely in her arms, just in case. For a moment, everything was still. The birds were singing. The waves were softly rushing against the shore. The teens were fighting in the background. Shei was breathing deeply behind him.

And then, something splashed right next to them, and the war was brought to the water.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed!**

**Looking forward to your feedback :D**


	6. Outsiders

**Thank you C-Lif3 for being an awesome beta! And, BornABurra your PMs keep this fic alive :P**

* * *

**A small piece of wisdom:**

… _he still has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world.  
\- Katara_

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Outsiders**

"Ha  _ha_!" Exclaimed Shei, throwing her cards on the table. "My win!  _Again_!" She cackled as she collected the colorful shells on the table, pulling them all into a pile in front of her with both hands. A series of groans erupted around the group, a couple of them tossing their cards and some of them just shaking their heads.

"Well…" Trailed off Daruka with a smile on his face. "That was expected." He commented, shrugging.

"You are cheating somehow, aren't you?" Zuko shouted over the disgruntled mumbles, pointing an accusatory finger at Shei. Her blue eyes widened, victory grin slipping away from her face.

"Ridiculous!" She shouted back. "I'm just good at games! Pick any game and I'll hand you your defeat on a silver platter!" Daruka was frowning now, raising his hands as he opened his mouth to undoubtedly try and calm the situation down. But, he'd been too slow.

"Alright." Zuko smirked, his competitive streak getting the better of him. "Let's play Fire War!" As soon as the words left his mouth, his visible eye widened, like he'd recognized his mistake. Daruka had frowned, while the others had had various reactions of disbelief. After all, Fire War was a common Fire Nation card game. Not to mention that it was a rarely played game since the beginning of the Hundred Year war. At least, outside of the Fire Nation.

"Let's!" Shei matched his tone, collecting the discarded deck and beginning to shuffle it. The teen boy across from her seemed to settle down, still a little uneasy about his obvious slip-up. "All or nothing?"

"All or nothing." He agreed, watching carefully as she shuffled. Then, Shei dealt the cards. Her eyes followed every single move the boy made as he picked up and looked through his cards. She put the rest of the deck to the side and picked up her own hand, taking it in. She had a pretty good deal, seeing the Earth Queen and the ten of Glaciers. "Your move, Milady." Teased Shei, enjoying the way a muscle in Zuko's jaw jumped at her words.

"Let's play." He growled and they both reached for the middle of the table, flipping the single cards in the spread.

Everything happened so fast.

As Zuko reached for his own hand, opening the cards to access them better, Shei took one of her cards and slapped it on one of the piles in a flash. His amber eye locked on her blue ones in a challenge, both of them moving once more with incredible speed. The game was a flurry of motions, full of slapping cards down, yelling out if they collided and laughing when one of them lost the speed match. Daruka was forced more than once to be the referee in their arguments.

Then, at one point, Shei yelled out. "Fire!" And Zuko groaned, noting that she only had three cards left in her hand.

"This is gonna be good!" Dumb commented, pulling closer to see the finish of the game better. Zuko picked up his leftover cards from the table, shuffling them together with his hand. At the same time, the two of them flipped one card over staring into one another's eyes.

Slowly, everyone looked at the pictures.

"Shei wins!" Exclaimed Kanan with a grin, pointing at the eight of Rocks on her side of the table. Zuko groaned, flipping another card over, Shei doing the same with a smirk.

"Go Lee!" Squealed Kitanna now, squeezing his arm joyfully from the side. He couldn't help a smile that formed on his face at his brief possibility of victory. Shei allowed him his moment of joy, fully aware that even if he had sunk down her ship she had just enough ground troops to defeat him.

"Last turn, Milady." She teased once again, enjoying the anger that flared in the boy's fascinating eye. She had noticed that he was most likely from an entitled and rich family, undoubtedly, she was hitting a nerve with her teasing. She found that she relished in his anger. It looked like he would spit fire if he could.

"Have you stacked up those things nicely?" Zuko cheekily retorted. "Because I'm winning this." Shei patted the pile of seashells next to her, smiling secretively.

"Game on."

And they flipped their last cards.

"Ha  _ha_!" Shei jumped, crying out in victory as Zuko stared in disbelief at his Earth Kingdom Minister of the Right matched pitifully against her Earth Queen. "I guess I'll be buying a round of drinks for the lot of us to celebrate my victory,  _Milady._ " Shei managed to giddily toss at him, collecting all the shells and heading for the bar.

"Better luck next time, dude." She heard Strawhat say, giving Zuko a pat on the shoulder. She couldn't bring herself to tell the poor boy the truth: no matter what game he picked, she would win. She  _didn't_  lose. She didn't  _like_  to lose. She  _always_  won.

"Seven mango and melon, please." Shei asked, jumping onto the tall barstool and leaning on the dark wooden counter, depositing the seashells there. Ela gave her a smile, coming over to collect the trinkets. They didn't use real money on the island. With the number of people and their occupations, it simply wasn't necessary. Instead, they used simple trade. In Ela's bar it was quite normal for children and teens to bring different seashells, shiny rocks or pearls which they dug up during their free time. It was well known on the island that the fisherman's wife loved to decorate different things with those trinkets.

"Oh, these are quite nice!" The woman commented, inspecting the shells. "They'll go perfectly into the guest room, don't you think? Now that we have someone there, we should decorate it a bit." She smiled and headed over to the mango basket, picking up a couple from there. Shei turned on her chair, looking at the bar instead of Ela. She'd seen her caretaker make the juice numerous times, after all.

The Beach Bar was a fairly new thing on Tir Mor, and it had been built by old Mame specially for Ela. She had requested that it be in the Earth Kingdom fashion, which led to a part of the building being set in stone. The rest of it was, of course, wooden, much like the rest of the houses, full with stilts as the base. That way, even when the storm season arrived, when the tide came in and the whole beach flooded, the bar stayed dry. In fact, during some years, when the water came so high that the whole beach became a part of the ocean floor, the small establishment would be like an island of sorts, standing in the middle of the crystal blue water on its stilts. Then, they would have to use a boat to get to it.

"Here you go, sweetie." Ela came back and deposited the glasses on the bar in front of Shei. The girl gathered them onto a tray and headed back towards their table after giving the woman a smile. She found their small group of friends lazing about and playing a casual game of Go Flyfish. When she set down the tray, she noticed a face missing.

"Where's Lee?" Shei asked, sitting down. Daruka absentmindedly blew some air towards the glasses, making the liquid on the inside cool down. A frost settled onto the top of the drinks and ice cubes began forming on the inside, the glass sweating from the change in temperature.

"Nature calls." Explained the older teen once he deemed the juice cool enough. Then, he distributed it among the group. "Why're you so fixated on him anyways?" Daruka asked, turning his cards into the pile and giving up the game. He looked at Shei.

"What?" She asked, shrugging. "I figured since he's in a strange place all on his own he'd want some friends, okay?" The girl defended, glad for her tan skin, for once. She could feel the way her cheeks had heated up at Daruka's keen observation. He  _had_  always been one to notice the details.

"He's an outsider, Shei." The teen slowly said, as if the girl in front of him had suddenly forgotten the common tongue. "We don't take in outsiders. You know that." As soon as he said it, Shei felt a deep pit reopen in her stomach. She hadn't felt that in a while.

"I know." Shei replied in a low voice, getting up from the table. She ignored Daruka's calls after her, heading towards the beach, instead. She didn't stop until she reached the edge of the crystalline water. As soon as it began licking at her toes rhythmically, she felt herself relax a bit. Yet, she couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling in her belly off.

* * *

"-so the boat will be leaving the day after tomorrow in order to sell the fish." Old Mame finished, accepting the bowl of broth which his wife handed him. They had all sat down for a meal in the early evening, their guest included, as soon as the head of the family had finished his work. It was a simple thing, just how Shei enjoyed, with her and Ela making a quick broth and putting various herbs into the fish to make it taste delicious. There was even a bit of cheese on the side, a courtesy of healer Naneh's rabbitgoats.

"Quite mysterious, isn't it?" Ela asked with a knowing smile. "The fish tank has been filled in record time!" She finally filled her own bowl, last, before sitting down, as well. Shei shared a small smile with Zuko, before speaking up.

"Our men have been working hard this month, is all." The girl fibbed easily. She was already halfway through her food, eager for what she'd planned for herself and their guest next.

"I'm certain that's the case." Nodded Ela, but the knowing smile never left her face. There were a couple of moments of almost complete silence at the table, as everyone ate. And then, a miraculous thing happened, if you asked Shei. Zuko spoke up on his own, without anyone asking him a question directly.

"How often do you send a boat to the Mainland?" Obviously, he'd been learning their terminology well, thought Shei with a small smile. The boy was a quick study, he'd proved it on a number occasions already.

"As often as necessary." Old Mame grumpily replied, but didn't elaborate. It would've been rude for the head of the home to ignore a direct question from their guest, otherwise the fisherman wouldn't have spoken. He didn't like talking during his meals. Actually, he didn't like talking that much at all. Shei was the one who would chatter away in the silence that often stretched between them. And, if not her, it would be Ela. The woman would talk about her day, about the ongoings in the village and even sometimes, she would manage to coax a fishing tale or two from her ill-tempered husband. Their guest didn't speak up again. Shei exchanged a small glance with Ela, and the woman gave her an exasperated shrug of her shoulders.

"Mostly, the boat goes in once or twice a month." She spoke up after she swallowed her broth. "There really is no need, seeing as we're completely self-sufficient as a community." Ela noticed the way their guest had his eyes fixed on her, listening in rapt attention. "We mostly send the men out if Miss Ajala needs new cloth or if we've got too much fish caught." The woman stretched over the table and poured some more water into Zuko's cup. "There is no use in wasting good food, is there?" She smiled. "And there are plenty of others who need it."

"Thank you." Their guest said, making Shei's eyes widen. She looked up to see him completely enamored by Ela's simple explanation. "And what do you trade it for? If not cloth?"

"Hmmm." The woman hummed for a second, chewing her cheese. "Most of the time we either need provisions for the storm season or we will sell it for Earth Kingdom currency. On an average, one trip to the Mainland gives us about five gold pieces."

"That isn't a lot." The teen frowned. "Surely if you employed more men to work on the fishing boats along with some more advanced technology you could have yourselves over a hundred gold pieces per trip, if not more." He spoke into his broth, brow furrowed as he calculated. "It would allow you to build better homes and provide your children with the necessary education and more diverse options for the future-"

Old Mame slammed his bowl down onto the table, causing Zuko to look up. The fisherman had a deep frown on his face and he was glaring at their guest. He downed the water from his cup and stood in complete silence, leaving the room and going outside. Soon, they could hear the sounds of his wood saw at work. The silence stretched for a few moments before Shei spoke up.

"I know that things are done differently on Mainland, Lee." Her tone was low, almost sad, but it held an edge to it. "But we do things our way, without the interference of technology or hierarchy. This is the way it has been done for a long time and the way it shall be done for a long time still." She lowered her spoon and wiped her mouth with her hand. "An outsider shouldn't butt into things he doesn't understand."

And Shei got up and left. She passed Old Mame, who was working furiously on a piece of furniture on the patio under their home. He didn't look up at her at all. She felt the guilt and the shame in her heart and stomach, like a bad meal or a horrible heartbreak. Shei had brought Lee into their home. She had brought the outsider, a boy who knew nothing of their ways, and she was the one who had let him speak out of term, insulting left and right. And, while she did feel terrible for doing so, she hated the part of her which held a sense of kinship with him. Once, a long time ago, she had been just like Lee, after all. She hadn't known better and she had spoken out of term numerous times, offending Old Mame and Ela. That was why her friends on the island were few in number.

Shei was an outsider, too.

* * *

It was hours later that Shei finally returned back to her home. She had wandered off, played with Jami and even went for a swim. Her thoughts were in a jumble and no matter what she did, she couldn't force away the nasty feeling in her stomach. She finally settled down at the bank of the ocean in front of her home, looking out at the water and the empty horizon. Every now and often she would toss something into the waves, just to disturb them.

The silence filled with the sounds of Tir Mor didn't break as someone sat down next to her. Shei didn't look up. Instead, she let the soft lull of the waves comfort her upset mind and the occasional cries of the birds call her back home. She found the serenity as she always did, in solitude.

"I didn't mean to overstep." Zuko's voice sounded from next to her. Shei pulled her head up from her knees, where it had been settled and gave him a small, almost sad smile. She didn't feel well. She didn't feel like talking. She didn't feel like comforting him for his unkind words. She wanted him to feel guilty. To suffer her own pain.

Wait.

No.

She didn't want that.

"It's alright." Shei spoke in a soft voice. She pulled herself up and straightened her back. "You're a Mainlander. You don't understand our ways. It's a normal thing to say." There was a moment of silence between them, but not an uncomfortable one.

"Still, I'd humbly ask for your forgiveness for my unthoughtful words." Now, Shei did turn to look at him. That was a practiced phrase, she could tell. He had been properly schooled by a high-class teacher. She didn't doubt it one second. This Earth Kingdom boy from the Colonies had had a tutor. Perhaps there was more to him than he let on.

"Forgiven." The girl grinned. She could feel the weight in her stomach lifting and the unsettling feeling going away. She turned to the teen next to her to see an almost peaceful look on his face. She'd grown accustomed to seeing him angry. He was always angry because of something. Whether it was her for speaking a mile an hour or someone else for telling a joke he couldn't understand there was almost always a furrow to his brow.

"Hey Lee." Shei called out his name, causing him to look away from the horizon. He truly did have eyes like molten gold. Not that she'd even seen molten gold. Only heard about it in stories from elders who had. Those who had seen a volcano eruption of the neighboring island. Though, she had seen gold. Ela had a necklace made of it which Old Mame had gifted her on their wedding day. She always wore it on her breast, visible. And this boy's eyes, they were just like that necklace when it caught the sun's rays. They were like fire and gold.

"What?" The eye she had been staring into narrowed, but she could see a slight blush on his cheeks. He was embarrassed that she'd been staring at him.

"Have you ever kissed a girl?" Shei couldn't resist. The blush intensified, spreading over his neck and ears as he spluttered in shock. Shei giggled as her guest tried to compose himself.

"Of course, I have! Many!" He yelled out at her, making her giggle even harder. "What?! You don't believe me?!" Shei tried to control her laughter. She really did. However, even more giggles erupted from her as soon as she forced herself to become composed. This, of course, made the boy even angrier. "Stop laughing at me!" He finally snapped, jumping up, getting his good leg under him.

"Okay, okay." Shei forced herself to stop laughing, her lips still pulled up in a small smile. "I ain't laughing at you, Lee." She also hopped up, brushing the sand off of her pants. "Shall we go fix that leg of yours faster? You'll need it in order to go with us the day after tomorrow." There was an eager smile on her face now. Shei saw the surprised look on her guest's face and the smirk widened. The teen brought her fingers to her mouth and let out a single sharp whistle which rang out through the quiet evening air.

"What are you doing?" The boy asked, furrowing his eyebrows. Shei offered him a raised eyebrow.

"Calling our ride." She smiled at him. "You ain't exactly gonna walk there, are you?" And she laughed at his annoyed expression in mirth. Soon enough, a loud roar broke through the silence of the setting sun on the beach. Jami glided on the currents, swerving left and right, until he went completely still, slowly making his descent onto the beach right in front of the two teens. His massive paws dug into the sand, letting out a large thump. He shook out his wings and purred when Shei petted his head. He pushed himself further into his mistress, happy to see her.

"Come on." Shei grinned, making sure that the straps of the leather saddle were secure on the beast. She helped Zuko get up on Jami, ignoring the disgruntled growl and the stink eye which her friend was giving her. "It's just a short ride, Jami. Don't be a bad sport." He still growled, but allowed her to jump onto his back, right behind her guest.

"There's no room." The teen grumbled, shifting in the saddle. "Can't we make this any bigger?"

"Of course, Your Highness." Shei's tone took on a sarcastic note. "On it right now." But, before Zuko could answer, she gave the command. "Hoppity hop." And Jami took off with small jump to his step. The boy's reply was drowned out by his gasp at the speed of the flight, straight upwards. When Jami caught a good current, he leveled out, flapping his wings from time to time, heading out towards the ocean.

"Oh Spirits." Shei heard her guest murmur, his hands white as they clutched onto the saddle for dear life. "Where are we going now?" He growled out a bit louder, oblivious to the fact that she'd heard his earlier prayer.

"Tir Caeo." Shei replied, scooting a bit up so that the teen could hear her despite the whistling wind. "It's an island in the Tun Chain, right at the border with the Fire Nation. It's infamous for its pools. Most people believe in their healing properties."

"Most people?" The boy shifted in the saddle slightly, turning his head while still keeping an iron grip on the reins. Jami gave a small rumble from underneath them, telling Shei that something was wrong. She looked around the saddle at the straps to see if any of them were too tight. Then, she easily saw the problem.

"Yeah, most people." She absent-mindedly replied. "Ease up on him, okay?" She patted one of the boy's legs, noticing the tense muscles there. "You're squishing him too hard."

"No thanks." The teen replied in a tight tone. He tenderly looked down at the calm sea below, seeing small waves, as big as a thumb's nail from their height. "No thanks." His posture became even more tense. Jami growled a steady stream of disgruntled rumble.

"He'll get mad at you now." Shei warned in an easygoing tone. "And, Jami ain't pretty when he's mad." She heard Zuko huff, but his posture didn't relax at all. With a sigh, Shei wrapped her arms around his middle, making him tense up even more, a warmth coming from the back of his neck where her head rested. "Take a deep breath." She silenced his spluttering and jumbled protests. "Listen to my breathing and match it. Listen to my heartbeat." The boy slowly relaxed. "Take a deep breath and match me." She felt the hard muscles of the teen's back slowly relax. They were still hard, but definitely more relaxed. "There we go." Smiled Shei.

But, just as the boy seemed more relaxed Jami began his descent and the muscles underneath Shei's arms and torso became tense once more. She sighed, making herself comfortable and ignoring the obvious disgruntlement of the two males.

Jami's paws hit the rocks and he growled in warning, ordering the passengers to get off his back. Shei slid down and helped her guest slowly untangle from the straps. Soon, both teens were on solid ground. Shei felt the slight floating sensation remain in her head, as it always did after a flight. But, she steadied herself and pulled the boy's arm around her shoulders.

"Let's go." She told him softly. "We're heading down there." And, the two teens started hobbling together. Shei looked around. Tir Caeo was one of the rockier islands in the Chain. It had a steady vegetation of deciduous trees which bore wonderful large fruit. The island had pools in the middle of it, along with a large waterfall. She wanted to see what kind of a face her guest would make once he saw them. She had certainly had a shocked one.

After all, she had woken up there one day from the darkness of her unconscious mind. She had felt a calming hand on her back and another on her forehead, soothing her. And, when she'd opened her eyes she'd seen a thousand stars sparkling like lanterns in the black night sky above her. The next she'd heard a voice, a deep male one, singing to her an ancient song of the island in a foreign tongue. That was when she'd seen the pools after jumping up, startling her savior.

She'd seen the man who'd pulled her out of the water surrounded by the sparkling pools of healing blue, looking like the ethereal human form of the Storm God, looking at her with wide eyes and a small smile.

That was how Rem had saved her life.

* * *

**That's all for now!**


End file.
